What The Heart Wants
by WriteDahScript
Summary: Set after the events of the first film. Humphrey will undergo some great hardships, including being framed by someone very close to him. Life is fascinating and unpredictable. Slow moving story but must read. Humphrey X Lilly. Rated M for a variety of themes.
1. A Midsummer Night's Dream

_Authors notes_

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own the Alpha and Omega film franchise. Nor do I own the intellectual property contained within it. This story is purely fiction set after the events of the first film for entertainment purposes only. Rated M as this story will include a wide range of themes - so please read at your own risk.

Reviews of my work are greatly appreciated, as I do put a lot of effort into my writing. The more reviews I get (including constructive criticism), the more I am inclined to update. I will try to update fairly regularly; This is time permitting however as my job and family come first. My writing is like art for me, for there is sheer complexity in describing the simplest thoughts and feelings using merely words and phrases.

Please enjoy the story.

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Chapter 1 - A Midsummer Night's Dream

* * *

Night had descended upon Jasper Park. The picturesque surroundings were illuminated by the crisp white light of the full moon, penetrating through the clear night sky. The moon, an ever-shining ember in place of the demon of a sun, which had plagued the valley that day with its seething gaze. Almost as if the sight wasn't enough, the light proceeded to dance off the stream near the horizon, giving it an almost glassy appearance. A low lying fog had descended in most of the Valley as there was no wind on this night, perhaps as if it was intimidated by the moons presence.

Humphrey pondered about this for a moment as he shivered, letting his mind idle. he took slight pleasure in the majestic architecture surrounding him on this unusually quiet mid-summers night. Humphrey's mind however was not at ease and he knew it. Silence ensued. There was not a howl to be heard on this full moon, nor a birds chirp or even the sound of the Canadian express asserting its dominance through the trees like a man made scar. Any of these sounds would have been comforting distraction, as his mind slowly reverted back to his situation. As his unease increased, he rubbed his eyes with his paws letting out a discontented growl as he almost playfully lolled his head on the frigid ground of his den. In a way he amazed himself that he had the tenacity to muck about and draw pictures on the den floor when his situation was so dire.

Humphrey accepted himself as an Omega wolf, he recognized this as an important complement to a pack which was dominated by stubborn and aggressive Alphas. What he could not fathom however was how he managed to ruin everything. As his torn; aching body began to fall limp, his mind began falling into a deep slumber. Humphrey's dreams were usually his haven where he could escape the constraints of his limiting physical body - a place he could truly be happy. But no ease came to Humphrey on this night, not even in his sleep. As he tossed and turned, sweating on the den floor; He vividly replayed the day's events. If he weren't sleeping and had the cognitive ability, he would have felt almost violated by this. Much like a wolf deciding to mark his territory in your den. Unfortunately for the Omega Humphrey however, a dream is something you are forced to endure.

-_Humphrey's dream_-

_There she was. Her fur so golden, reflecting the moonlight in a way which looked like the sun itself. Throughout his life, Humphrey hadn't had much in the way of luck. He had never known his parents, however what he did know about them was that he was taken in by the Western pack as an orphan as he was apparently a result of an 'accident' between two young wolves from the Eastern and Western pack. Winston of course had to break this into him slowly, with Humphrey being as young as he was. This time however fate had dealt him better cards. Humphrey fully intended to play them to his advantage._

_He proceeded to look at the beautiful golden Alpha in front of him. Her scent, features; Voice were all so alluring to him. The noise in the train car was almost deafening for a creature with sensitive hearing like a wolf, yet he found himself staring at her incomprehensibly, mesmerized as if in the presence of an angel. This female had to be the only wolf he every truly loved which had made life difficult for Humphrey. Especially over the last 2 days that he had spent in Idaho with her. Humans had relocated them to Sawtooth National Forrest to repopulate, and he had to admit, during his trip he had replayed fantasies in his head of doing exactly that. _

_Snapping back to reality his anxiousness returned... Quite rightly so. He realized the audacity of what he was about to do, and the possible implications of how she would react. Despite this he also realized that this was perhaps his only chance to tell her the huge secret he had been keeping locked away in his heart since he was a pup._

_"Kate.." Humphrey whispered gently towards her. Kate's ears flickered to the stimulation but to no avail. _

_"Kaaate" He said somewhat more forcefully._

_"Ugh.. What is it Humphrey, you woke me up." _

_Kate, being an Alpha growled in frustration and immediately stood on the train car floor. Not before stretching her forelegs and cracking her back, which reminded Humphrey of something that Tony would do._

_"We're in Jasper Kate..." Humphrey Paused._

_" I told you we make a pretty good team."_

_Kate let out a small yawn, making Humphrey chuckle._

_"Yeah Humph, we sure do..."_

_She said this somewhat sarcastically, however Humphrey was too focused on the nickname she had adopted for him over the last 2 days to pay attention to this. Did this mean she felt the same way perhaps?_

_"What are you thinking about Humphrey?" Interjected Kate._

_"Kate, I've been needing to tell you this. I have felt this way all my life. And over the last few days, it's made me believe it even more... You were always the one Kate, I love you with all my heart."_

_Kate stared at Humphrey blankly, making him even more nervous than he was. As his heart rate picked up, he shuffled his paws on the wooden car floor._

_"I need you Kate, more than you ever know. We can make this work. I know I'm an Omega and you're an Alpha, but you know me... We can figure something out. Will you be my mate?"_

_"I already know Humph.."_

_Kate proceeded to sigh and tilt her head towards Humphrey with an exasperated look._

_"You're kind of cute Humph, and we will always be friends. But... You need to know that I'm getting married to Garth though. I'm not going against pack law, and let's face it. You can't even hunt. How would you provide for me when I am pregnant with your pups?"_

_Humphrey had no answer to this as he started at the ground. He couldn't help but let a tear escape his eye and drip off his nose, creating a small splash on the wooden planks of the train car. However what Kate would say next would take all the air from his lungs._

_"I don't like you in that way anyway. All You have time for is games. Responsibilities come first Humph and you need to realize this. I'm getting married to Garth and uniting the packs. I need a real wolf. As the future leader of the pack my pups must be fast, strong and smart. Don't take this the wrong way Humph, but you're none of these"._

_Kate shook her head in frustration and launched herself from the train car with the precision and skill of an Alpha. This left Humphrey inside it staring blankly at the moon. Mooch was right. He shouldn't have let an idea so abstract like being with Kate enter his head in the first place. His logical reasoning did nothing to sooth him however as his tears began to fall, whilst he slowly stumbled towards the door and prepared to leap. _

_Without a doubt, this had to have been the biggest blow he had ever suffered. He felt incomplete. He never deserved this come to think of it. All he ever wanted was to be accepted and find true happiness._

_The couple walked towards the head Alpha den in silence. The moon was high in the sky, the sun a mere remnant of what was the day. Humphrey refused to look at Kate for the entire journey. He would usually consider this type of behavior quite childish, however given the circumstances he needed time to regain his composure._

_Kate sniffed at the ground for a scent to ascertain the direction of the pack. Being downwind this was fairly easy for an Alpha, so she simply cocked her head towards the direction they needed to go. As they approached the perimeter of the territory, passing through miles of tall Redwood trees they eventually came into a clearing. Laughing and splashing could be heard from the nearby watering hole. This was a lake which was fed by the cleanest river water originating in the nearby mountains. Kate lowered herself to the ground as Humphrey peaked past the brushes and shrubs. This revealed Reba and Janice, the vegetarians bathing and having a game of 'berry ball' in the water._

_"HAHA I got you first!" exclaimed Reba._

_"Don't get cocky sister, you just took a berry to the face. You'd better get those stains cleaned out for the howl tonight, or no guy will fancy you." Replied Janice._

_"Oh really? Salty didn't seem to think so. In fact he was drooling over me bathing the other day. I love teasing him."_

_Humphrey chuckled to himself lightly, this sounded like his friends. Oh how glad he was to be home._

_"Reba, stop it seriously you know I'm taking him to the moonlight how..." Janice broke off and looked around._

_"Who..who's there!?" Janice shouted._

_"What is it?" Reba chimed in._

_"Someone is watching us..."_

_Kate thought this an appropriate time to make her presence known. She prodded Humphrey with her paw and signaled for them to emerge from cover._

_"Ow. Why so hard?" Humphrey whined._

_Kate was tired from her 2 day ordeal and losing her patience._

_"Grow up you silly Omega" she barked back with an extremely snotty attitude._

_If words could kill... Humphrey found this extremely rude and hurtful, not the way you would talk even to a friend. Humphrey had had enough. The old Kate had gone forever. Alpha School had replaced her as a cold hearted bitch, a mere shell of what she once was. An oyster without a pearl Humphrey mused._

_"Well fuck you then" Humphrey replied slowly and methodically. He knew however that he had hit a serious nerve._

_Kate ignored this and walked out of the bushes where they were hiding, Humphrey trailing behind her._

_"Hey girls what's up?" Kate addressed Reba and Janice._

_Reba was initially taken aback by the golden she wolf standing in front of her._

_"OH. MY GOD... Look who it is!" She exclaimed to Janice._

_Janice scampered out of the lake with a start, happy to see her friend after she feared the worst must have happened._

_"Kate are you alright!?" Piped Janice._

_"Of course I am. I'm the top Alpha in the pack after all..." Kate replied self assured and was bombarded by an onslaught of questions regarding her absence, then proceeding to giggle with the girls._

_Reba's attention then turned to Humphrey who stood immediately behind Kate._

_"Oh my god it's you!" Reba shouted. Humphrey smiled, happy to see his friend. Over the years growing up as an orphan, Reba and Humphrey had formed a strong almost brother-sister bond. Perhaps because they had so much in common. Reba and Janice were both vegetarians all their life and Omegas, so they commanded the lowest social ranking in the pack. Other than Kate, Lilly and Some of the other Omegas, wolves refused to even talk to them. Alphas such as Claws and Scar often spat at them, even sometimes attacking them when they suggested bitter berries as an alternative to caribou due to the relative scarcity._

_Humphrey opened his paws to welcome Reba into a hug. Reba approached in a flash. Oddly Humphrey never recalled them making contact. The next thing he remembered was waking up on the ground, a numb, throbbing yet stinging sensation in his face. Raising his paws to feel at his face, he opened his eyes to reveal the wet sticky sensation was in fact blood._

_"Uuuuuuugh" Humphrey groaned. His own voice echoed inside his head, almost as if he was delirious._

_Humphrey slowly opened his eyes to see Reba lowering down to face him, her paw all bloody from where she had decided to claw his face. Janice was stood behind her in shock; And Kate was stood next to Janice with a smug look on her face._

_"You disgust me Humphrey, after all we have been through tell my it's not true!" Reba yelled._

_Janice's initial shock was replaced by anger and she couldn't help but chime in._

_"Yeah Humphrey, we actually thought you were a decent guy, and pretty hot too..." She trailed off._

_This was confusing Humphrey more, as if the recent blow to the head wasn't enough._

_"Crap. Reba. What is your problem?" Humphrey managed to straggle out in raspy breaths._

_"Don't give me that attitude darling, or should I say pervert. You know exactly what you've done."_

_Janice decided to take over._

_"Yeah Humphrey, when we first heard about it we didn't believe it was true. But Eve was right. We all thought she was a highly strung paranoid wolf scared of her daughters disappearance. I'm just ashamed I didn't take her advice on board. It was no wonder you wanted to abduct Kate, you've had a crush on her all your life. You even told me." Janice said with temper._

_Like any duo, Reba had to finish her sentence._

_"Yeah! so you abducted her to rape her... Oooh and so now what? Kate turns up again alive and well so we thought it was all lies. That was until Kate confirmed Eve's suspicions!"_

_Humphrey was in a state of total shock, never before had such a fabrication been made up about him._

_"Yeah, Humphrey was staring at my ass the whole journey" Kate added, which wasn't a total lie._

_"The bastard broke me off from the moonlight howl with Garth because he was jealous and he knew those humans would be there to take us to Idaho. The whiny shit raped me in my sleep. The only reason I didn't kill him off is because I'm better than that..." Kate lied and trailed off._

_The vegetarians had obviously had enough, and could no longer face Humphrey. Humphrey managed to stumble to his paws, his consciousness fading and blood dripping from the gashes on his face. Reba turned around one last time._

_"STAY AWAY FROM ME PERVERT" She yelled and she proceeded to walk away from the lake._

_Humphrey began to cry, a never ending flow of saline tears flowed down his cuts, stinging them as if purging him for a sin he never committed. Kate turned to Humphrey one last time and sinisterly whispered in his ear._

_"Shouldn't have pissed me off... Humph."_

_"FUCK FUCKING YOU!" Humphrey exclaimed with ferocity_

_"You'll never get away with this you could heartless cow." He mumbled._

_"I'm the pack leaders daughter. And besides sweetie, I'm heading to the head Alpha den to tell mother exactly what's happened. Guess she was right all along, HAH Humph!?"_

_Humphrey had no real comeback to this._

_"You're crazy Kate"_

_Kate ignored this and turned around_

_"Clocks ticking Humphrey" She said as she ran off to the den._

_Humphrey had no energy to run nor fight. He just sat there and watched as the last hint of daylight had completely disappeared from the sky. A worn tangled cut-up mess of nerves and hormones. His brain could not compute as salinated blood dripped from his face, staining the sand a brown colour. He would keep his moral high ground however and he still loved Kate. His Kate. Despite having deserved it, he couldn't help but feel guilty for calling her a heartless cow. He sobbed wondering what he had done to deserve this life as nothing had ever gone his way. Numb, almost automated he moved towards the crystal clear spring, turning the water a slight crimson colour. The cool water relaxed his nerves, as he greedily lapped it up. A long overdue refreshment. At this point he wanted nothing more than to go to his den and hide away from the world._

_Laying in the sand, staring up at the stars, Humphrey pondered what his life should and could have been, his bleeding tired body shaking from the onset of hypothermia. He growled softly as a commotion interrupted his train of thought._

"_YOUUUU!" Bellowed a feminine, yet terribly deep voice. _

_Humphrey pounced to his feet as if following basic instinct. not 100 feet away stood the last wolf anybody wanted to see, especially on a day as bad as this. Eve. She scared Humphrey to the core. Kate somehow managed to take the best traits from Eve and leave the 'killer' behind. Though today, Humphrey was beginning to doubt the validity of that. Following behind her was an old grey wolf, Winston with the majority of the Eastern and Western pack. Some had speculated that Humphrey was Winston's son from a previous mate as their appearance was very similar, but the pack leader was too ashamed to admit it._

_Humphrey was cut off from these thoughts. He was a dead wolf and he knew it._

_"YOU..." Eve repeated somewhat haphazardly, obviously going through some internal dilemma._

_"YOU DISGUSTING PIECE OF SHIT! I WILL SKIN YOU AND USE YOU AS A DOOR FLAP."_

_Winston interjected_

_"Normally Humphrey I would hold back my wife, but today I'm not going to. Nobody rapes my daughter and gets away with it. I don't even know why I had anything to do with a disgusting orphaned pup like yourself, I should have left you to the bears..."_

_This destroyed Humphrey. As if he could even be further broken. Winston continued._

_"I banish you from the Jasper Park United pack. And yes, Kate is getting married so it is no longer east and west. Oh and Humphrey, never talk to, or come close to me or any of the pack again."_

_as the angry growling pack of over 50 wolves advanced on him, Humphrey closed his eyes._

_Broken and bleeding, practically undead, Humphrey dragged himself towards his only haven he had. His home away from home. He left a trail of blood in his struggle which he knew he would attract apex predators. he pulled himself through the shallow rapids of a small stream, hoping to disperse his scent. Upon arrival Humphrey collapsed giving up. Part of him doubted he would even survive the night and yet he didn't even care anymore. Staring out from his den away from home, he looked at the moon. His one and only true friend he mused deliriously. _

_His mind restless he began drawing on the den floor, his paw dripping in blood. Hypothermia had fully set in and he was delirious to the point that he questioned his own sanity. As his unease increased, he rubbed his eyes with his paws letting out a discontented growl_. _As his torn; aching body began to fall limp, his mind began falling into a deep slumber. Humphrey's dreams were usually his haven where he could escape the constraints of his limiting physical body - a place he could truly be happy. Unfortunately for the Omega Humphrey however, a dream is something you are forced to endure._


	2. The Grass Isn't Always Greener

Chapter 2 - The Grass Isn't Always Greener

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Lilly liked to think of herself as an innocent wolf, with the simplest of needs. Perhaps it was by no coincidence that she was born with a flawless snow white coat; She was a wolf driven by her conscience after all... Her fur, so pure and white, one may interpret as a loving beacon of hope that shines it's cleanest light into the hearts of all the Jasper wolves. Lilly was certainly an amicable wolf and it was something she was proud of, however she made sure that she didn't use this trait to take advantage of people.

Reminiscing on her puppyhood, she remembered when she often cried herself to sleep because her mother had forced her to eat caribou. Eve would often lose her patience because this was an every night occurrence. She would often snap, sternly reminding Lilly that wolves were meant to kill and eat meat, often further scaring Lilly, causing her to cry harder.

Lilly was always considered as the black sheep of the family and she knew it. She often wondered if she was adopted. Considering her fur colour and Omega personality, it totally contradicted that of Winston's, Eve's and Kate's. Eve always pushed Lilly hard physically and mentally, tested to the limits with intentions of her living up to her sisters expectations. Lilly would always fail miserably with poor strength and endurance skills; This is not to mention being loud, clumsy and having absolutely no attention span. Eve would react to this by blaming Lilly's diet as she had taken up eating bitter berries with Reba and Janice as a substitute for caribou. Subsequently, she would then stubbornly push Lilly even further beyond her limits to breaking point and call it a 'suitable punishment' for her actions.

After Alpha training, her legs would feel like jelly and she would be unable to even stand. Her fur would be clumped and knotted together... And perhaps the worst of all her paws would be so cut up, so walking anywhere felt like it was on broken glass. She would often seek comfort from her father Winston, walking up to him in a gingerly manner so not to put excess pressure on her tender paws. On approach, looking through glassy bloodshot eyes lacking their usual lustre, she would gently nuzzle him taking in her father's scent.

Winston, however, would always shoe Lilly away as he was busy attending to pack matters. She often got shouted at by her father for this reason. She was told she needed to 'toughen up' as her father put it, as a potential future leader for the pack.

As Lilly was engrossed in thought, she recalled the day Kate left for Alpha School. Ironically enough, she wasn't particularly upset that she had to endure a whole winter without her beloved sister. Sure enough she loved her sister, so it was a given that they were close companions when it came to playing games. She loved to play 'Hide and Seek', 'Hunter and Hunted'; And her favourite game 'What am I?' with her.

She did however envy her sister, Lilly therefore was desperate for the separation. Even if it meant missing out on a whole winter of growing up together. Kate was always the talk of the valley and her parents. This wouldn't have bothered Lilly so much if Kate hadn't have kept rubbing her face in it, boasting about her wide array of friends and awesome skills. Kate being of a dominant mindset always liked to get one up on her sister, which always left her feeling inadequate. Despite Eve's training bestowed up onto Lilly in preparation to become an Alpha, she had failed to meet the mark to be considered as an eligible candidate for the School. Kate made sure to publicly humiliate her sister on this occasion with other female wolves attending the classes.

_-Lilly's memory-_

_The wind was something that Lilly envisaged to have been sent by the gods. Its sole purpose to sooth and clean the conscience of a guilty mind. Not today however. Today, it was like it was berating her. It blew back the long reeds of grass in the meadow that she sat in on this chilly autumnal morning. As the reeds blew in the wind and connected together, they hissed words of hate at her. Who was she kidding? She could never have made the mark of becoming an Alpha._

_As her interest wavered, she concentrated on the damp and dew in the grass as it reflected and sparkled in the sunlight, making the landscape look almost ornamental. Vibrant shades of brown and orange leaves littered the ground as if begging for a fresh start._

_Lilly tried to console herself in that it was the end of one year, and the start of a new one. She however found it hard to convince herself of this, as she was eavesdropping into the conversations of the Alpha School candidates. Lilly counted over 30 new generation Alpha's. Kate sat proudly, her back straight and head high at the front of the group._

_"So tell me kids, how much training have you all had?" The voice belonged to an elderly female wolf, obviously one of the teachers._

_"Trust me I've had the most, my dads' taught be all the basics anyway. I can already do 100 log squats, So I guess I will be skipping that exercise" Kate flippantly replied._

_this statement was followed by curious gossip within the group of young wolves, whispers being sent back and forth. _

_"SILENCE CANDIDATES, You will speak when you are spoken to!" Yelled the elder wolf._

_"KATE!" She proceeded to bark_

_Kate snapped her head to attention, as if instilled by military discipline._

_"You will perform these in front of the group, no whining. No stopping! Prove to me you can live up to your fathers' name."_

_Needless to say, Kate completed all 100 log squats in less than 10 minutes much to the astonishment of the group. Lilly didn't know whether to feel envious or proud of her sister. As a moral person, the concept of feeling envious towards her sister made her feel guilty in the first place. _

_"Lilly. You know I really thought better of you..." A voice came from directly behind her, obviously her mother snapping her back to reality. Eve then proceeded to sit down next to her daughter and stare into the clearing habited by the training Alphas._

_"Look at your sister, Kate. She works hard. She has a sense of duty and is a benefit to the pack. You should be ashamed of yourself Lilly." Eve sat for a few minutes._

_"Useless..." Eve muttered under her breath._

_Lilly pretended not to hear this, when in reality it hurt more than a dagger in the heart. It was as if her mother only valued her based on her hunting skills and not out of love. Tears slipped Lilly's beautiful lilac eyes as she sniffled, facing away from her mother in effort to mask her emotions. Lilly at this moment desperately needed someone or something in her life to cheer her up, because she felt empty. _

_Lilly despite being the pack leaders daughter was very much a lone wolf with no emotional support. How she longed for someone to come into her life; To hold her, kiss her, unconditionally love her for all her imperfections._

_The sequela of emotions stirring inside the white wolfs head had proved all too much. She collapsed to the ground, head in the grass and began to sob. Eve shook her head to herself and proceeded to spit a little on the ground in disgust. She heartlessly turned around and walked away, unable to face her Omega daughter._

_Lilly didn't really care anymore, covering her eyes with her paws. She would just lay out here. If a bear killed her tonight, so be it. At least she would be going a better place than here. A place where she would forever have all the food she wanted, a warm den; And perhaps even a loving mate. That way she could really escape the constraints of her body that had ailed her. _

_As if on cue, her nose detected damp in the air, suggesting the onset of a thunderstorm. As her ears flickered in the wind, Lilly overheard Kate and was certain she was being talked about. She sniffed, and focused on the conversation._

_"HAHAHA. You think that is bad? you should have seen Lilly when she used to try and do log squats. That was if she wasn't distracted by a frog or a butterfly. She managed like 8 presses then ended up wearing it like some turtle. Totally disgraceful." Kate laughed with her newfound friends._

_"When you see her, call her turtle road-kill. It totally pisses her off."_

_This comment seemed to amuse the group of young wolves as they heartily laughed, fully intending to further hurt and poke fun at Lilly. Unfortunately for Lilly however, she was startled by a 'CLAP' of thunder. She knew what this meant, and she knew her time had run out._

_A single drop of rain splashed on Lilly's nose making her sneeze. It had not been her day. As Lilly looked up, she instantly regretted it as she was greeted by a torrential rain storm. The winds picked up, choppy almost to the point of being violent and managing to drench Lilly's fur, matting it to her slender body. The rain washed her crystal tears away, her drenched fringe covering her sad majestic eyes._

_As Lilly laid in the rain, under the 'CLAP' and electric blue of thunder and lightning, her teeth chatted together. She felt homeless, with nobody to keep her warm or even care about her. Lilly thought about the only wolf who would listen to her, keep her safe, warm; And most of all love her. _

_"Humphrey..." Lilly whimpered._

Despite her mothers and sisters transgressions towards her that day, she hoped that at some point in her life she would have the ability to forgive them. It was not in Lilly's nature to hold resentment in her heart, especially towards her family.

Lilly's mood swiftly changed, allowing a smile to creep onto her lips. She was a grown wolf now anyway, she had learned independence the hard way; Without family support. Besides, Lilly was the more beautiful sister, and she knew Kate resented Lilly for that. She was built somewhat more delicately than Kate and had the most stunning eyes in Jasper Park, she was alluring to almost all the males in the pack. Needless to say, she often was the recipient of a males lustful gaze. With a bat of her lashes they would be under her spell, Lilly giggled to herself. Not that she would do such a thing though, because Lilly vowed to be beautiful inside and out.

Lilly yawned loudly, trying to ignore the snoring of her family. This was in her opinion the worst of aspect of sharing a den with your parents and sister. That and sharing a den with a family which consider you a disgrace she mused.

looking out of the head Alpha den, Lilly studied the snow-capped mountains in the distance, fluffy white clouds forming near the base of them. Looking to the sky as if on the inside of a snow globe, she observed what she believed to be the Orion's Belt constellation. Lilly marveled at the stars, eternal, as if they were purest diamonds installed by the grand architect himself. Lilly however believed the stars were something more than this; The souls of deceased wolves forever looking down and watching over their living companions. The thought, though farfetched was comforting to Lilly.

With the sky being clear she knew that Jasper Park was in for another scorching day. She contemplated watching the sun rise over the mountain tops, starting as a large deep orange ball of fire, then rising; Getting brighter, decreasing in size as water would evaporate from the lake to form a thin layer of insulating cloud.

Lilly however decided against this. With another hot sunny day being inevitable, Lilly had decided it was best to get her priorities sorted before the sun decided to greet her.

As she stretched she let out a small yawn. Her eyes wondered, eventually locking onto her own tail. She giggled, and slammed her forepaw over it as if she was a predator trying to ensnare its prey. When this didn't work, she proceeded to chase her own tail, shrieking in a never ending circle. She had as much luck catching her tail as finding a leprechaun with a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

With a smile on her face, flicking her fur away from her eyes, she giddily ran out of the den and down the trail that led to the main ground. She passed Candu and Hutch, whom had neglectfully fallen asleep when on duty to guard the den. Lilly laughed and sighed. Males would be males.

Bored, as if searching for stimuli, Lilly raised her nose into the air as if searching for a scent. The smell of caribou made her stomach rumble. She slowly followed the scent for a few seconds, her nose glued to the ground. Once she ascertained the direction of the scent, she bolted towards the direction of the feeding grounds.

Upon arrival, Lilly once more let out a frustrated sigh. The hunting party was not back yet meaning that all was left were scraps and bones from the day before. Cautiously walking up to what was obviously the carcass of a caribou, stalking it as if it were still alive; She lunged forward and sunk her teeth into one of the ribs, thrashing wildly in an effort to brake it off.

After securing her new chew toy in her jaws, she perched on top of a large decomposing log which looked out of place on the now sun crimson ground.

"Hey Lilly!" Came a feminine voice from the side of her.

The voice, which originated from the meadow grass at the side of the feeding grounds belonged to no other wolf than her friend Candy.

Candy proceeded to poke her nose through the meadow grass, slowly walking into the clearing. Her tail wagged in excitement to see her friend with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Why up so early Lilz? Did the cat wet your bed?" Candy joked.

Lilly grinned and replied.

"Well Candy I could ask you the same, you're not exactly known to be an early riser after all".

Candy shook her head towards the ground for a second, obviously contemplating something.

"Yeeeahh... I just had a rough night last night. Moonlight howl. Guys."

She then winked and continued.

"It was fun though."

Despite wolves mating for life, this didn't surprise Lilly. She knew Candy all her life, she had a weak spot for curbing her lust for males. Males would sometimes even be the unfortunate recipient of Candy's unwanted advances, or perhaps fortunate depending on the way you looked at it. Lilly didn't want that though, she wanted a soul mate, a companion; A father figure.

Candy must have followed Lilly's train of thought, her female instinct taking over.

"Oh cheer up Lilly, I promise you will find the right person It just takes time." Candy added somewhat half-heartedly.

"Yeah I guess you're right. I just had nobody to take to the howl last night. Well nobody decent anyway with innocent intentions."

Lilly continued.

"I was going to ask Humphrey, but I haven't seen him since last night strangely."

Candy grinned and replied.

"Yeah he's pretty hot, I guess I should get myself some of that."

Lilly, knowing not what to say to this allowed a deep red blush to rise to her cheeks when the thought of compromising her friend Humphrey came to mind. It in fact turned her on a little. She also to a degree felt quite jealous and territorial at Candy for suggesting this though, however she could not place her paws on, as to exactly why she felt this way. She was lost in thought and knew Candy would pick up on this, so In effort to change the subject Lilly spoke about what else was bothering her.

"Yeah he's a great guy. He'll make some girl really happy someday. Anyway, Did you see that guy my sister took to the howl last night? His name was Garth I think."

"Yeah. O. M. G. He was sooo hot!" Candy blurted out.

"Yeah agreed, my sister always gets all the hottest guys."

Lilly paused and continued.

"Anyway I guess I should get myself some of that" Lilly half joked.

It was Candy's turn to growl, the Omega turning territorial.

"Paws of sister, I saw him first. Pffft, it's not like I care anywayss."

Lilly laughed, taking secret enjoyment from Candy's behavior. Candy paused then continued.

"Anyway Lilz you heading down to the spring with me? I'm gonna get cleaned up before it gets too hot today."

"Sounds like a plan!" Lilly giddily pepped.

"Race you there snowflake, last one there is caribou scat."

"You're on..." Lilly replied, grinning in determination.

The day progressed as usual, the girls laughing and joking on their way down to the lake. The sun, of course had risen in the sky, radiating the valley with its brilliant glow. It was not even noon and yet the ground was burning; So hot infact that the heat could be seen rising from the ground, distorting the light. Perhaps even to the extent of forming a mirage Lilly mused. Candy and Lilly were panting by the time they reached the perimeter of the lake, one of the few times Lilly was glad that she had shed her winter coat.

"Shit. It's too hot" Moaned Candy.

"Yeah I know, let's just get into the water."

Lilly boldly moved forwards, setting foot upon the sand of the lake. As soon as she did this, she screamed in agony, managing to roll back into the bush line where Candy stood.

"It burns?" Candy questioned.

"Il say it burns. We're going to have to run"

"Fine. We will do it on 3..."

Candy paused, looking at Lilly for acknowledgement. She continued.

"3, 2, 1... RUN!"

The duo sprinted towards the crystal clear water, like an alpha chasing a caribou. The sand sprayed up Lilly's legs, further burning her. Lilly ignored this however, focused much like an alpha on the pristine spring. Once she had reached the end of the stretch of white sand, she leaped as if going in for the kill.

When airborne, she closed her eyes expecting a cool refreshing rush to hit her. The reality of this however was much greater than she bargained for. She plunged into the cool spring water with great velocity, water and bubbles rushing past her ears. She realized the water was significantly colder than she was expecting which came as a shock to her system.

Lilly opened her eyes, her vision still murky in the shallows. She could see the sun piercing the clear lake, abstract beams of light illuminating the lake bed. Lilly thrust her paws, in effort to reach the surface. She poked her head out of the water and gasped for air. This was not out of the lack of it, but perhaps the frigid temperature of the water. It took almost all her willpower to prevent her teeth from chattering together, however she could still not escape an involuntary shiver racking her body.

Lilly turned around to see Candy still stood on the steaming sand of the beach.

"Scaredy cat!" Lilly teased through gritted teeth as she had a mischievous plan.

"It looks cold Lilly..." Quipped Candy.

"Oooooh don't be silly, the waters great, look!" Lilly said emphasizing 'great', splashing the water with a fake smile.

"C'mon Candy! take a jump!"

Candy did not need telling twice as she launched herself into the spring just as Lilly had with an almighty splash. Lilly wrapped her tail around her face as the water threatened to go in her eyes. Upon moving her tail, Lilly unleashed hysterical laughter, seeing her friend gasping for air.

"COLD...COLLLLLLLLDDDDDD." Candy whined.

Lilly's amusement increased.

"Oh please you big baby! It's just a little water."

"Bitch." Candy snapped back jokingly.

The friends stood neck deep in the cool refreshing water, one could argue the best place for a wolf to be on such an ungodly hot morning. It was times like this when Lilly did not envy being an alpha; She would much rather relax in the spring than hunt in the flustering, sticky heat.

"I'm too thirsty." Lilly stated matter of factly, hungrily staring down the water.

She instinctively lapped the water, testing it as if it were poison. Once she had decided it was okay to drink, she then took large greedy gulps of the water until she was satisfied.

Once the girls had finished bathing, Candy unsurprisingly was the first to complain.

"Ugh it's too hot! Let's just stay in here and play games."

Lilly, being submissive and Omega was not one to argue.

"Okay I suppose, what do you have in mind"?

\- meanwhile-

The large muscular, yet lean prime Alpha had made his way down to the watering hole on this sweltering morning. It was far too hot for any animal, let alone for one with such a heavy coat like a wolf. This Alpha was always comfortable in his own skin, his rich red fur doing wonders in the sunlight accentuating his large muscular shoulders. He padded through the bushes towards the lake engrossed in thought. An internal dilemma so to speak; Any wolf would have realized this by the way he furrowed his brows over his brilliant, yet troubled jade eyes.

The temperature was however not the only reason he sought time in solitary, his morning duties had been cancelled by his father Tony due to the events of the previous night. Not 30 minutes ago he had overheard a loud argument between his father, and the leader of the Western pack; Winston. He therefore needed to escape to get time and space.

The gist of the argument was regarding Kate's disappearance last night. Rumor had it that Humphrey... That weird and annoying little coyote which he found hanging from a tree, the one that was obviously heads over heels for Kate had actually decided to abduct her and rape her. What a load of shit... He thought. He knew the real reason for her disappearance, but he couldn't tell his father or Winston this. He couldn't bare the shame of telling his father that the reason the packs couldn't unite was down to his howl. His howl, so bad that Kate ran away to avoid marrying him. For a proud top Alpha like Garth, telling his father was not the done thing.

Garth stomped his paw in anger. How dare she stand him up like this. Kate was promised to him by his father... He had to unite the packs by taking her as his mate. She had just decided to get up and run away 10 minutes into a howl. Immature girl.

Besides, she was a fool not to be attracted to him. After all, he was handsome, large, smart, and a brilliant provider for the pack, he thought. He sighed internally, he would have to learn to howl if it was the last thing he did. He had endured much worse hardships in his life.

Garth on appearance was an outwardly confident, self assured model Alpha. A body is just a shell though with no true substance. Such a pristine outwards appearance often indicates compensation for something that cannot be said or shown. This was the case for Garth, as he endured serious confidence issues growing up.

_\- Growing up -_

_In his young puppyhood days, Garth was often picked on due to his unusual burgundy, red fur coat. It would usually amount to simple name calling which all pups do. However, on some occasions Garth ended up getting into physical confrontations... Tony, of course allowed this to happen as he saw this as a natural part of growing up. His son had to be tough as a future leader for the pack. However, Garth as a pup was submissive by nature and not a fighter. What his father did not realize was that the bullying was doing more damage than good. It explained why he refrained from howling practice. He didn't want to draw attention to himself, just wanting the day to be over so he could play with his friends._

_When the bullying got really bad, he convinced himself that he was a freak of nature and he hated the sound of his own voice; His opinions didn't deserve to be heard. He knew his father would have interjected if he knew Garth's problems had gotten so bad, however Garth didn't want his father to think any less of him so he had chosen to keep it a secret._

_At one stage in puppyhood, he snapped. All the words of hate that were inflicted onto Garth he forced into exercise. He would beat his peers. He would be the best candidate once he made it to Alpha School, he had to be a leader. He didn't need a voice. Garth was to be a pup of action._

_Needless to say, Garth lived up to the targets he set himself. The bullying stopped throughout Alpha School, the majority of his peers simply intimidated by his sheer size. His size however gave him too much of a macho image to the extent that other wolves would be too scared to even approach him with the intentions of making friends. It didn't help either that he didn't talk to anybody as this meant wolves had to take him at face value._

_Though females found him attractive, often having fantasies about him, many viewed him in the same light. The scars running down his chest really didn't match the personality inside. Sure, being as handsome as he was, he had gotten involved in a number of single night stands, but it had never lead to anything substantial. By the time most of his peers had got mates, he was still single. This was during the beginning of the caribou decline in the Eastern pack, when Tony had first had the ingenious idea of his son and Kate becoming mates to unite the packs._

Garth growled. Angry to let such a painful memory even resurface. He was fed up, he just wanted to get a drink and take a relaxing swim in the Western spring. Even if Kate didn't want to be his mate, he always had other options. Right?

Like that beautiful she wolf he saw last night with Kate, looking directly at him. He would have much rather taken her to the howl. What was her name? He pondered this question. He really thought her eyes were fascinating, and much like himself - she had an unusual coloured, yet fantastic pure white pelt. He was aching to find out who this girl was, perhaps with a view to courting her. This was of course if she was an Alpha; For it was against pack law for them to become mates if she was anything but that... Besides, he needed to make sure the mother of his pups was strong as he bore the responsibility of continuing a strong family bloodline of healthy Alphas.

Garth had been so deep in thought, he hadn't noticed that he had made it to the lake. The heat was by now somewhat unbearable; Garth stretched his aching back, placing his forepaws against a pine tree whilst lightly panting. This kind of weather actually made him feel unfit, to which he chuckled to himself.

Garth's ears snapped forward, hearing screeching and splashing coming from the lake. His heart started to beat faster. He knew bears wouldn't pass up the opportunity to drink from the pack lake on a day as hot as today. This is not as he couldn't kill one, but rather that he knew his own limits. He would struggle without any form of assistance or backup.

Perhaps by training, perhaps by instinct, Garth's muscular body hunkered low to the ground, his head poking out of the bushes observing the lake. The first rule of being an Alpha is to always expect the unexpected... He never forget his Alpha School training. However, his gut feeling told him there was no danger. Curiously, he flicked his ears and huffed out of his nose, in efforts to home in on the noise.

To Garth's surprise, he heard what he thought to be laughter. Wolf Laughter. Female laughter. Despite being a well trained Alpha, Garth couldn't help but get a little excited by this. The girls were obviously bathing, so all he was obviously doing was following his instinct by stalking his prey. He smiled mischievously, as he further poked his head out of the bushes to catch a glimpse of the girls.

The said smile quickly vanished from Garth's face. There she was! That beautiful white wolf he saw last night at the howl! He felt somewhat dirty for watching, but he no longer cared. He watched as a slender brown female wolf with deep grey eyes, pounced upon the white wolf from behind. They were obviously playing some sort of game.

"HAHA, I caught you Lilz!" Said the brown wolf, she paused and continued.

"You've been hunted. It's my turn to be the prey."

So her name was Lilz? Short for Lilly? Garth pondered this for a moment, but he was interrupted as the white wolf knocked the brown wolf off her feet, and pinned her on the bank of the spring as if they wrestling.

"Bullshit Candy, who is the boss now?" Lilly replied cockily, almost sounding like her sister.

"I've never seen anyone be hunted so quickly. You don't put up much of a fight do you?" Lilly joked.

So Garth had picked up their names. Lilly and Candy. Lilly appeared to be on top of Candy, pinning her by the wrists. Though well trained, Garth couldn't help but stare at her slender ass.

"Aww... fuck" He said quietly to himself.

He knew he was beyond the point of no return as he felt a rush of hormones pump through his body. His 'wolf' slowly began to slide out of his sheath, as he feverishly sniffed the air to get a gulp of Lilly's intoxicating scent. He would normally berate himself for doing this, for this was not proper behavior for a trained alpha... She may even be an Omega! Garth did not care though; It had been too long since he had been with a female, or seen one bathe for that matter. As the scent from his nostrils was processed by his brain, his 'wolf' big and thick became fully erect.

What was more tantalizing for Garth was the female named Candy. She kept looking in his direction. Did she know he was there? Lilly proceeded to get off of Candy, as Candy rose to her feet. The brown wolf then walked slowly, but with intentions. She seductively moved away from the direction of Garth, every sway of her hips seeming to swing like a pendulum. Garth stared, hypnotized, totally inebriated by his inner most desires. Candy's actions seemed to confuse Lilly, as she stared at her, perplexed as to what she was doing.

Garths eyes bulged as he stared at Candy's butt. What was she doing? Was she presenting herself to him? As his suspicions grew, Candy proceeded to slowly raise her tail, an action that Garth was desperately anticipating. This motion continued, deliberately arching her back and suspending it over her head. Garth lost his breath when his eyes locked on the prize. The glistening pink slit.

"Fucking hell" Garth whispered to himself again, placing his paw over his 'wolf'.

Garth sniffed the air again, only realizing his critical error much too late. Upon inhale he had inadvertently breathed in a fly. Feeling the lump slide up his nostril with a feeling of dread, he couldn't help but let out an involuntary sneeze.

\- Back with Candy and Lilly-

Though Lilly, above her and pinning her might have been oblivious to what was happening, Candy certainly wasn't. She was a woman of course; It was her intuition to know when she was being watched. She could see a large wolf poking his head from the bushes at the side of the lake watching them, and he had continued to do so for a few minutes now. There was no way that he could be an Alpha with such terrible stealth skills.

Candy also had a pretty good idea as to what he was doing, as she grinned to herself. Candy sniffed the air, confirming her suspicions. As Lilly released Candy from her hold, Candy whispered into her ear.

"Just act natural. Okay?" Candy paused.

Lilly did not know what to make of such a statement. She always acted natural. She was, to a degree a naive wolf, innocent and simply interested in having fun. So in her opinion, she was always 'acting natural'. As if not to ask an embarrassing question, Lilly directed a bewildered face at Candy, trying to indicate she was confused; The look plastered on her face almost being comical.

"Just watch and learn." Candy then said seductively out of experience.

Lilly's bewildered face turned to that of embarrassment, as her face flushed for the second time in the day. Candy was walking seductively towards her, raising her tail above her head. Lilly's innocent mind went into overdrive. Did Candy like her? As in the way a girl likes a boy?

Lilly froze like a dear in headlights, not knowing what to do, think or say.

'Awwwwh, shit' Candy thought to herself mischievously, getting a little turned on. She had decided to put on a show for the wolf spying on her.

Though Lilly would have been, Candy was not at all offended by his antics, In fact she secretly loved it. Candy couldn't help but let out a slight involuntary moan as she caught glimpse of the mystery wolf's big strong body, and his fully erect 'wolf'. After such a sight her body was no longer in control, fluids beginning to leak out of her slit. She proceeded to walk towards Lilly, as if trying to entice her. Her hips swayed with her motions, until she was mere inches off Lilly. Candy then seductively raised her tail as far forwards as it could possibly go, demonstrating her flexibility; This male would certainly have an eye-full she thought to herself with a mischievous smile.

Candy wanted to laugh at the look on Lilly's face, wondering what thoughts were now firing through her innocent little mind.

"AAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCHEWWWWWWWW!"

Though Candy, at least to a degree was expecting this; Lilly most certainly wasn't. It shocked her to the core as she yelped and jumped, covering her chest with her paws instinctively as if to protect what little modesty she had left.

Candy Jumped a little, half expecting what happened. With a long track record of males behind her, she had learned to understand the opposite gender inside and out. Lilly was laid in the hot sand, paws covering her most intimate areas, her head darting about searching for any signs of immediate danger. Candy, sensing Lilly's distress simply placed a paw on her shoulder.

"Stop panicking sister! It's alright."

Though this didn't completely calm Lilly, it did seem to sooth her a bit. Lilly looked towards Candy.

"It looks like we've got at admirer." Candy whispered in Lilly's ear with a wink and a giggle.

"What do you mean?" Lilly reluctantly asked with a shake voice.

Candy said nothing to this, figuring that showing Lilly was more convincing. She boldly marched up to the bush line which ringed the lake, with pace to ensure their spy didn't escape. On approach, the bushes began to shake wildly indicating that the mystery creature did not want to be caught.

Candy stopped not 5 feet away from the bush that the intruder was hiding in, deciding to momentarily watch and take amusement out of his pathetic escape attempt. Despite being an Omega, Candy suffered a significantly short temper.

After roughly 10 seconds, Candy unfortunately lost her patience; Her nostrils flaring as she huffed in annoyance.

Candy fully intended to humiliate the creep. Sure, she secretly enjoyed his eyes locked upon her butt, and the sight of his big hunky body, however Candy would make sure that she would never lose face value in front of her friends, especially ones as close as Lilly for that matter. She wrapped her paws around one of the branches in the bush preparing to shake the wolf out of it if need be.

"Here, give me a hand." Candy quipped at Lilly.

Lilly, getting the gist of Candy's remark grabbed another branch, violently shaking the bush whilst digging her legs into the ground.

Though Lilly didn't know the origin of the sound, it was a sound she had heard many times before as she had often climbed trees during her puppyhood. She knew the sound of cracking branches was a bad sound, for she truly could end up being turtle road kill.

Lilly leaped backwards; A total leap of faith as any possible landing couldn't have been worse than getting flattened by whatever lurked in the bush.

'THUDDDD!'

The ground vibrated behind Lilly as she momentarily closed her eyes.

"Oh shit.." came a pained response from behind her, obviously male.

The normally timid Omega Lilly span 180 degrees on the spot, fully intending to combat the possible assailant if need be. With her heart racing and mouth dry, she gained a lump in her throat - instantly recognizing the wolf collapsed in a ball in front of her.

"G..Garth!" Lilly spat out, almost questioningly.

Lilly allowed her cheeks to flush red, her crush, the big dominant alpha in a ball at her paws.

"My my my! Look what we have here!" Candy blurted out, half laughing.

"We have ourselves our own creep, Ladies and Gents! A hunky one at that!" She then blurted out sarcastically.

Garth Jumped to all fours, his head and eyes darting around as if looking for a none existent escape.

"What do you mean?" Lilly questioned Candy.

"Oh you know, the guy that's being staring at us, well mainly you for the last ten minutes".

Why would anyone want to stare at her?- 'Oh!' She thought as she processed the words, her eyes managing to lock at the large male organ suspended beneath him. The sight of it made her mouth even dryer, sending shivers up her spine. She felt sickly almost dizzy, Immediately averting her gaze not knowing what to do or say.

Lilly refocused on the beautiful wolf in front of her, who was obviously as flabbergasted as she was. Lilly now had a proper opportunity to look at Garth. The male had perfect proportions from a female perspective. Even better looking in the flesh than when she had first laid eyes on him at the moonlight howl, she mused. In that instant, the once innocent Lilly had a task on trying not to view the male in front of her as a piece of meat. Candy unfortunately had failed this test, her mouth agape, a large globule of saliva extending out of her mouth towards the floor.

Lilly shook her head, letting the logical part of her mind take over.

"YOU!" She paused, lost for words.

"YOU PERVERT!" Lilly exclaimed, making the large Alpha flinch as if being shouted at by a parent.

The words of hate from his crush shook Garth back into reality. He had to think of some excuse, quickly at that; She had put him on the spot. Word of what had happened could not spread, it would ruin him. Nobody would respect him as the leader, as Tony's successor when he passed away.

As an Alpha, he was trained for such eventualities. Part of the Alpha School training consisted of capture and interrogation lessons, to simulate the quick thinking needed if captured by an enemy pack.

"Wooooah woah! Relax okay!" Garth replied, stringing the sentence together in his mind as he spoke it.

"I'm here to speak to you Lilly, it's Important." Garth stalled for time.

"It sure looks like it." Lilly snickered, eyes focused on his dangling manhood.

Garth blushed deeply, one of the few times he was thankful for his dark burgundy coat. He continued to improvise.

"It's... Urrmm.. Yeah it's your sister Kate! She went missing with Humphrey last night after the moonlight howl, have you seen them?"

"What the fuck!?" Candy blurted out

"My sisters missing?" Lilly murmured through wide eyes.

"Yeah! Word from the valley is that stupid coyote Humphrey decided to abduct and rape her." Garth replied, obviously not calculating his response carefully enough.

'THHWACKKKKKKKKKK!' Lilly's paw collided with Garth's face, also doing serious damage to his ego.

"You asshole! Humphrey would never do such a thing! and that is my sister you're talking about!" Lilly yelled through teary eyes."

"Hey!" Garth gritted his teeth in a pained response.

"I'm just saying what I hear-"

"Shut up." Candy asserted, looking almost ready to pounce in defence of her best friend.

She proceeded to place her paws around Lilly's neck in effort to comfort her. She nuzzled her whilst shooting a stern look at Garth. Eyes like daggers, Garth now knew he was in serious trouble.

\- The previous night -

Evelyn had certainly been a paranoid wolf, her mind in overdrive. She had refused to calm down though, It just wasn't Eve's style. That disgraceful Omega Humphrey must have taken advantage of her daughter... She just knew it. Throughout her thorough investigation of the valley, she had smelt the Omegas scent mixed with that of Kate's near the bottom of howling rock, seemingly disappearing into thin air. To her this only meant one thing.

Eve had never liked the grey furred Omega, always saw him as a pest that was far too fond of Kate for her comfort. Now her daughter was gone, perhaps never to return. After the initial waves of fury and panic had set in, her mate Winston had tried to calm her. Winston, being the voice of reason suggested that Kate would turn up in the morning. Suggesting that even if Humphrey had decided to abduct Kate, she was a well trained Alpha so she could easily look after herself.

Eve of course didn't take this to heart, stubborn as her daughter. Winston, upon seeing the state and distress of his mate had managed to coax her to get some sleep. Looking down at her sleeping form, he prayed that nothing would happen to his beloved Kate.

\- Early the next morning-

Eve awoke with a start, with what little sleep she had. The previous nights memories and anxieties flooded back through her mind. Something was amiss however. She couldn't place her paw on it, unable to shake that uneasy feeling.

She looked around her den, as if the answer was to hit her in the face. Eve's eyes widened, a look of horror and realization upon her when it hit her. Where was Lilly? Her Lilly was missing too!?

Though a million questions were rushing through her head, she forced them to the back of her mind. After all, her actions were what mattered. Sniffing the ground in the head Alpha den, Eve ascertained that Lilly had left not 2 hours ago.

Though this should have put most mothers minds at ease, Eve was not a wolf to give up. She would find the whereabouts of her second daughter. Eve sprang to her feet, grimacing in pain. She was not the young flexible wolf she once was. Again she sniffed at the ground, locking onto the Lilly's trail, prepared to follow it wherever it may lead.

\- Late that morning-

The sun had crept it's way over the mountain tops, almost to the highest point in the sky. Needles to say heat was beating down over Jasper park. The mountains surrounding it encapsulated the said heat, building it up almost like an oven. Eve grimaced, she was a fool not to have expected as much. Now Eve wished she had taken a drink from the stream before taking off in the pursuit of Lilly.

Evelyn had followed her daughters scent, leading her to her daughters whereabouts. Ironically enough it had lead her to the most ideal place on such a seething day, Eve mused, the spring. The water looked appetizing to Eve. Her basic instincts almost guided her to the crystal clear water in efforts to quench her thirst. Evelyn however resisted such a temptation, as for the past few minutes she had been observing her daughter Lilly.

Sure enough, she could just drag her daughter home by the ear. After all how dare she run off at a time like this to play with her friends? Her sister was missing and she was in danger. Lilly was no Alpha. She needed to be locked in her den on a day like this; This was not a time for fun and games.

Eve had pondered these questions for a while, but had decided to observe and investigate her daughters antics from a distance, curiosity getting the better of her. Eve was taken aback when she noticed Lilly's friend approaching the shore towards the bushes that ringed the spring, hoping that her cover was not blown. The brown wolf had her paws wrapped around a bush, motioning for her daughter Lilly to help. What were they doing?

Upon shaking the bush, Eve heard the familiar creak of branch breaking, followed by a large scattering of leaves. A large red brown wolf, obviously a strong alpha fell on the ground with a thud, directly behind Lilly.

Evelyn, sensing her daughter in danger sprang to her feet, ready to intervene at a moment's notice. Unfortunately for Eve however, she was too far away to make out their conversation. Not only this, she couldn't risk getting closer and blowing her cover. She growled in frustration, eyes piercing the large red wolf.

'Wait. That's Garth!' Eve realized, growling to herself. Now she knew what was going on. Eve was irate... Lilly's sheer audacity surprised her, especially with her only being an Omega. This was meant to be Kate's mate, and Lilly was trying to seduce him! Did she have no respect for Kate? Not to mention who had was missing.

Eve was quickly losing her patience, not that she was renowned for having a long fuse. Oh her beloved daughter would suffer for this, she thought to herself somewhat evilly. As she continued to watch the wolves talk, nothing could have prepared her for what she was about to see, and hear.

' THHWACKKKKKKKKKK'

Evelyn watched in pure horror, as Lilly's paw collided with Kate's mate to be. She leapt from her cover, furious as to what had unfolded. Her eyes narrowed her target. She sprinted forwards with the utmost tenacity, quickly approaching the wolf. When she was not 10 feet away, she pounced at the beautiful snow white wolf, her claws in the air.

She collided, and clamped her jaws around the neck of the white wolf, sending her sprawling 5 feet to the ground.

As if on cue for Garth, this was his exit opportunity. Without a word he sprang to his feet and darted into the forrest, knowing that his transgressions on this day would come fairly far down the list of gossip. Candy would have called him a coward to his face, but she was too focused on Lilly being savaged.

"ARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH. CANDY HELP ME!" Lilly screeched in a frenzied voice.

Lilly was pinned on the ground, battered and bleeding with a growling Eve digging her teeth into her neck. Candy did not need telling twice, using all the stored energy in her rear legs, her head down, she charged towards Eve with great velocity. Candy felt the collision ricochet throughout her skull and spine, grimacing at the pain. She was successful however as the Impact sent Eve whirling into a nearby tree. Evelyn had not finished yet, with a viscous killer look in her eyes. She quickly rose to her feet, staring at her daughter in hate.

"You're bat shit crazy woman! That's your daughter!" Candy managed to yell behind her anxiety.

These words did nothing to mellow Evelyn however; If anything it fueled her rage.

"Shut up you! Get out of the way of my whore of a daughter, I will make sure she doesn't eat for a week for these antics."

Eve proceeded to pounce at Lilly again, at speeds that an Omega such as Candy could not match. Eve swung her paw at Lilly's face, managing to tear into the end of her ear, blood beginning to pool out. This left an opening for Candy, and she took the opportunity. She clamped her jaws around Evelyn's neck, fully intending to take her life if it meant sparing Lilly's. The duo struggled for a few seconds, as if locked in place. Evelyn eventually managed to throw Candy off, launching her a few feet onto the ground. This was not however without injury for Eve, as she gave herself the once over, noticing the bleeding bite marks in her neck. Eve old and breathless, stood unmoving, panting as if for sheer life. Her eyes darted towards her daughter sobbing on the floor, then up to her Omega friend growling stood protectively over her.

"We are through, daughter! You haven't seen the last of me. I promise." Eve said with malice in her voice.

As Evelyn turned to walk away, Candy couldn't help but pant for breath, scared stiff like a rabbit on a train track. Upon Hearing a sob emanate from Lilly, she re-adjusted her focus onto her, wrapping her arms around her as she broke down weeping.

"Shhhhhhhh it's okay" Candy cooed to the hysterical bleeding wolf in her arms.

She knew deep in her heart that is was not all alright, but didn't know what else to say to console her.

"Everything's gonna be alright" Candy continued, rocking the white wolf in her arms.

Candy stayed like this for 15 minutes, rocking Lilly , until she was certain Lilly had regained some of her composure.

"Your mother is a total bitch you know" Candy blurted out.

Lilly laughed a little.

"Yeah she is, I have to live with her." Lilly replied.

Candy seemed to ponder this for a couple of seconds internally, before continuing.

"C'mon, let's get you cleaned up"

"Alright.." Lilly croaked back in a meek voice.

Candy stood, nuzzling Lilly's side in an attempt to help her stand. Lilly winced upon putting pressure on her paw, obviously sprained.

"Cmon." Candy repeated, allowing Lilly to lean to her as they headed down the sand to the spring.

Candy proceeded to lick Lilly's cuts much like a mother would, making sure they would not get infected. she couldn't imagine what kind of mother would do such a thing to her own daughter. The water turned crimson from the dried blood as she tried not to think about it. Her ear had obviously not properly closed up and was still bleeding a little.

Wanting to forget about the ordeal, Lilly piped up.

"Let's just get out of here."

Candy instantly agreed and nodded her head.

"Yeah, come to my den. You can stay with me tonight and get away from that horrible mother of yours."

Lilly smiled a little to this, and decided to get out of the water. She shook herself dry on the banks, and proceeded to lean on Candy as she limped to her den.

That night, the duo huddled together in the den sharing body heat. Candy was obviously concerned for Lilly's health, for she hadn't even eaten today. She looked over at Lilly with pity, silently praying for true happiness for her friend. Perhaps a mate, she mused. Lilly, as if the purest white angel answering the prayer blurted out the answer.

"Humphrey."


	3. Free Spirit

Chapter 3 - Free Spirit

* * *

Perhaps It's not polar thinking that opposites attract. Lilly could see this now when it came to Garth, snapping them together like magnets as if by some unknown force. Lilly, a mere victim of her femininity was compelled towards him; Her shallow inner instincts telling her that the flashy, self assured red wolf which had plagued her dreams was the ideal mate. Contrary to this, she could also sense however that what he made up for in his physique, he lacked in his character.

Despite this, Lilly knew that she was the exact reciprocal of Garth and had absolutely nothing in common with him. It was a recipe for disaster, a doomed love hate relationship from the start. The Omega sighed to herself internally, picturing such a scenario. She would be the typical damsel in distress, having to rely on Garth to hunt for her, and pretty much provide for her in every way. She would never get to spend alone time with the Alpha even if they were allowed to become mates. The result of which would mean her life would amount to nothing more than sitting in her den without her significant other. This is not to mention Garth's terrible personality. With Garth being such a coward it was safe for Lilly to assume that he would run away from his responsibilities when the going got tough. If this wasn't bad enough, Lilly wouldn't even be able to trust a wolf Like Garth around other females following her traumatic experience at the spring not 2 days earlier.

What you see is what you get with Lilly. A stunning white she-wolf, small in stature with the most entrancing lilac eyes. Viewing her as an outsider, perhaps it would be safe to assume that she would be as stuck up and self obsessed as her sister; Omega or not. For Lilly however this was not the case. Though Lilly was a meek, yet loving and playful wolf; The conscience led Omega would not let anything compromise or corrupt her. Corruption had unfortunately been the way with a number of wolves in the Western Pack, most usually occurring amongst the select group of Alphas on hunting duty. A large number of Alphas would often hide some of their game they managed to kill, saving it for themselves. Unfortunately this often resulted in famine during some of the harsher winters at Jasper Park, fights breaking out; Even amongst the Omegas. This was not, and never ever would be on Lilly's conscience.

She would never let her intrinsic beauty, or her sheer attraction power she held over most males in the pack change the way she treat wolves, or what she expected of them. Her empathy skills and generous nature often meant she would be the first to identify and offer assistance to a wolf in need. Many wolves in the West saw this as the perfect personality to match her perfect appearance.

However, a number of males that had observed Lilly didn't see it that way. They would often dismiss her as potential mate material; Her fragile body and generosity would often be mistaken for a sign of weakness, especially amongst animals as ferocious as wolves. These wolves, failing to have the insight to see that what Lilly was offering to the pack was arguably far more important than caribou. It was morale.

What these wolves had also failed to realize was that Lilly was not weak in spirit... In fact, she was strong. For example, Lilly had intentionally gone against her mother's wishes as a pup, refusing to eat caribou on the grounds that killing was wrong. The result of which would often be a firm beating from Evelyn, or words of hate directed at her, often leaving her as an incapacitated ball sobbing on the den floor. It was gutsy, perhaps atypical of her natural personality. Lilly however made sure with every fibre of her being that her conscience remained clean and intact. After all, even to this day, It was all she had. This was what life was like living in the shadow of Kate.

Lilly would make sure her strong fighting spirit would conquer the ailments imposed by her body. She knew that now, her inner strength was essential for her survival. It had to be.

"What's on your mind, sweet lips?" Candy questioned Lilly, distracting her from her thoughts.

"Just thinking.." Lilly replied in a low voice, invoking a laugh out of Candy.

"I know! But about what sister?"

"Nothing really Important." Lilly stated, then continued.

"Listen, thanks for the other day Candy. My mother would have surely gotten me this time if you hadn't stepped in. She doesn't go against her threats you know.. I really wouldn't have eaten for a week."

Candy stood up on the den floor and growled loudly.

"Your mother would have killed you Lilly!" Candy hissed through gritted teeth. She paused for a moment, then continued.

"Of course I was going to help you, I love you Lilz! It's what friends are for. You're safer in this den with me than being back at the Pack with that monster."

Upon processing this, Lilly sighed, defeated. She had nothing to say to this, knowing it all to be true.

"Yeah, it's a good job it rained yesterday, It must've thrown my mother off my scent. I know for a fact she's been looking for me.. And I also know I can't return to the Pack. It wasn't and never will be my home." Lilly piped up.

After the fateful events at the lake not 2 days ago, Candy had insisted that they hide out in her den, located far beyond the outskirts of Jasper Park and into the forest. Despite Lilly's slowly healing injuries, she had not been allowed out of the den except to dig a hole and relieve herself. Lilly's curious nature and built up energy had often taken advantage of her, to the point where she would try to sneak out of the den to stretch her legs. Even in the middle of the night, Candy would playfully tackle her to the ground, reminding her that she needed to remain out of sight and mind. At least for the time being.

"This is your home now Lilly." Candy said in a somewhat comforting tone.

"Thanks." Lilly replied, with a smile. Glad that Candy actually cared about her well being.

"We Just gotta get you back to health.." Candy murmured and trailed off, absorbed in thought.

Lilly was looking out of the den with anticipation, wanting nothing more than to chase her friend through the forest. Today was the ideal day to play. It was still fairly early morning and yet the temperature was just right, a comfort to the dry blazing heat of the other day in the valley. The sticky heat by the lake had been replaced by a somewhat more comforting, cooler humidity. A thick fog had descended upon the forest that morning, preceding a night of heavy rain and thunder. Looking up, the sky was as white as Lilly's fur, overcast, a complete unfaltering blanket of pure white cloud. This illusion however was spoiled, as the sun appeared to be in a struggle, almost as if it was trying to joust the clouds. It's success was limited however, as only a faint outline of the sun managed to poke through the fluffy white blanket, let alone pierce through the tree line. Lilly's attention snapped to a magnificent yellow and black butterfly, which had decided to land on her nose. She giggled to herself, her eyes were fixated on the fantastic yet delicate creature. It was one of the simple pleasures of the universe, something so complex, yet just simply existing without a creator. The butterfly flapped it's wings on Lilly's nose, to which she couldn't help but let out an involuntary sneeze. Lilly watched, eyes glued to it as it flapped away, on its own journey that fate had planned for it.

Candy watched Lilly, sensing all her pent up frustration as her own. Candy sighed, not knowing what to do to cheer up her friend. Bored herself, and improvising, she slowly walked up behind Lilly, tenderly nuzzling her neck. Lilly turned her head towards her friend looking somewhat shocked. After the initial assertion of Candy's presence, Lilly reverted back to looking outside of the den, as if entertainment were to hit her in the face.

Candy growled a little to herself, feeling quite hopeless in improving her friends somber mood. In an attempt to clear the air, she rubbed her nose against Lilly's neck again and began to lick her ear. Lilly winced in pain to this, for the end of her ear had been torn open due to her mother's brutal beating.

Lilly would ordinarily have found Candy's behavior quite strange, questioning her antics. She remembered however, that Candy loved her deeply and had been licking Lilly's wounds for the last 2 days to prevent infection. Lilly just closed her eyes, enjoying her friend administer the best medicine she could give her.

Candy continued to lovingly lick Lilly's ear, moving and tracing down her neck. Lilly arched her back and sighed, enjoying the treatment thinking nothing more of it. Candy, glad that she was making her friend happy sighed herself. She deeply inhaled, pushing her nose against Lilly's neck taking in all of her sweet scent.

Upon inhale, Candy felt a little dizzy, her heart skipped a beat before increasing in rate. She couldn't really explain this to herself, but she shook it off and followed her instincts. She then proceeded to run her teeth over Lilly's tender soft ear, before stopping to playfully nibble the tip of it with her fangs.

"Ahhhhh" Lilly let out an involuntary moan.

After a few seconds, Lilly's dulled mind began re-processing, through the simple pleasure that her friend was giving her. Whilst still looking forwards, her eyes shot open and her face flushed red, as blood rushed to her cheeks.

"Hey Candy... Whatcha doin?" Lilly said breaking the silence.

Candy just giggled, making Lilly blush more.

"Shhhhhhhh. Just relax and enjoy okay?" Candy whispered soothingly into her ear.

"But-?" Lilly was cut off.

"Shhhhh." Candy said as she carefully placed her paw over Lilly's nose.

Lilly could do nothing but rapidly nod her head, following her instincts. Her heart rate began to pick up as her cheeks flushed further. Lilly could feel a form of excitement build up in her chest. She didn't understand it, but somehow she felt childishly giddy. It was totally alien to her. What she did know however, was that she did not want it to stop.

Lilly was cut off from her thoughts when Candy pressed her nose against hers, looking deeply in her eyes as if speaking words that did not need to be said. Lilly's eyes widened in shock, neither of them looked away for a moment, as if in a stale mate for eternity. Candy couldn't help but marvel at her friends beautiful purple eyes.

'God, she is so beautiful' Candy thought, glimpsing over her friends cute, yet perfect body. Her eyes rested on the deep cuts Lilly's mother had inflicted on her, filling her with sorrow for her friend.

Reverting her gaze back to her friend, instinctually, Candy slowly and lovingly opened her mouth against Lilly's. For some reason, it came as no surprise to Candy that the innocent white wolf had decided to do exactly the same. She slowly began to kiss Lilly, their tongues making contact and eventually becoming entwined. The kiss deepened, and Candy could feel Lilly's hot huffs of breath against hers as their tongues wrestled, making her moan into Lilly's mouth.

Lilly's excitement in her chest was replaced by wave anxiety as she felt her friend began to scratch tantalizingly down her back. It made her mind revert back to the situation at hand. She was kissing her own best friend... As if they were lovers!

She didn't know if they were lovers, at least in that way. In fact she didn't understand anything! Why did she like this? Why couldn't she stop herself from doing this?

Sensing Lilly's anxiety, Candy giggled a little and gently pulled back from Lilly, nuzzling her neck.

"Shhhhhh, it's okay. Just let it be... Alright?" Candy cooed into her friends ear.

It was obvious to Candy that her words had worked, as the pained expression began to leave Lilly's face.

Lilly didn't speak, she just sat still with a whole new level of excitement coursing throughout her body. She knew not what it was, nor how to interpret it, however she liked the way that Candy was making her feel. Yet, she was frozen like a dear in headlights. Lilly inhaled, breathing in Candy's intoxicating scent, making her heart pound in her chest. It was odd. She was confused, yet not even frightened or disgusted about the unusual things she had been doing with her friend.

When it was obvious to Candy that Lilly was not going to take initiative, she slowly moved her nuzzle towards Lilly's, only this time to be met By Lilly's with the same tenacity. Candy then slowly commanded Lilly to the floor of her den, by gently placing a paw on her chest. Once Lilly was laid on her back, Candy kept her paw on her chest in dominance. Candy proceeded to kiss Lilly, deeply and methodically, enjoying the way their tongues and breathing wrestled.

Needless to say, Candy was a bit confused herself. She felt the familiar itch of her folds beginning to slowly lubricate themselves. Not only this, she had began to rapidly wag her tail in excitement, wafting her intoxicating scent throughout the den. She now understood the feeling she was experiencing. Arousal! It hit her quite suddenly, making it hard to contain her shock.

Part of her told her that it was wrong to be doing this with her friend; Especially a female. She was supposed to feel this way towards males right?

Candy pondered this for a second, pulling her mouth away from Lilly's with a 'pop', saliva dripping onto the den floor and Lilly's face. Lilly laid there with dilated pupils, tongue hanging out of her mouth panting heavily. They just looked at each other.

"Candy. I.. I. Please carry on!" Lilly pleaded through raspy breaths, her face flushing for thinking such things.

Candy's arousal took over, all of her resolve finally melting away. Candy just grinned at her comment, looking down at her friend in a whole new light. She placed both paws over Lilly's chest, transferring her body weight.

This was a whole new experience for Lilly. The initial excitement that had been coursing through her chest had now somehow managed to spread throughout her whole body, much like a virus would. It had spread to her lower regions, a completely unfamiliar feeling to Lilly. The feeling was hot, it burned to an extent, but somehow it still managed to feel fantastic. Yet at the same time it just felt itchy and tantalizing, to the point where she knew there was something missing.

Her heart was beating like it would break out of her chest, the initial child-like excitement still there as if telling her there was more to come. Lilly loved this. She also loved the way Candy stood above her, paws on her chest dominating her. Growing bold, Lilly spoke up.

"You're forgetting about down there." Lilly chimed, motioning to the lower region of her body with her tail.

"Down there, hmmmmm?" Candy shot back, totally shocked but playing along. She secretly admired the newfound confidence from her friend.

"YEAH!" Lilly barked, grinning at Candy.

Candy was about to question Lilly, however was cut short from her train of thoughts. Lilly then pounced at Candy, pinning her to the den floor whilst grinning triumphantly. Candy, of course was totally taken by surprise by her friends actions and, taken aback, she naturally had no words. Lilly took this opportunity to push her nuzzle towards Candy's, kissing her roughly and deeply.

"Uuugh fuck." Candy moaned through panting breaths.

Asserting her dominance was also new thing for Lilly, putting aside the experience itself. It totally contradicted her normal personality. Yet, right now she wanted nothing more than to show Candy her true power. For her, it was as if she was doing something revolutionary. Freeing her soul, letting her have her own way for once.

Upon hearing Candy moan and knowing she was doing a good job, Lilly grinned mischievously and began slowly running a claw down Candy's neck, along her slender body and onto her chest. She slowly traced circles into Candy's chest as she moaned and writhed on the den floor. Lilly giggled to this, enjoying her newfound power. As Lilly traced her claw lower, Candy instinctively opened her legs and arched her back. She kept this motion going on her stomach for a few seconds.

"Tease." Candy quipped.

"Be quiet, and do as I say. This is how it's going to work." Lilly fired back.

Candy had never heard Lilly say such a sentence before, nothing so dominant. So having no witty comeback to this like she normally would, all she could do was nod her head in confirmation as her cheeks flushed a deep crimson colour.

Deciding not to be too mean, Lilly decided it was time to alleviate Candy's frustration. Lilly, a complete novice, slowly lowered her head down to Candy's stomach. She eyed the female hungrily, as if she were a piece of food. Extending her tongue, she gave Candy a long loving lick, from her lower stomach to her neck. This action sent shivers up Candy's spine, causing her to arch her back further and squirm on the floor.

"Lilly just lick my pu- AWWWWW SHIT" Candy moaned loudly.

Candy opened her eyes through a lusty gaze, gasping for breath. Lilly had pushed her face into Candy's slit without warning, nudging it and testing it with her nose as if it were prey. Lilly laughed and inhaled, taking in the fantastic scent of her friend.

"I bet it tastes good too." Lilly said in a sultry voice, with a wink.

Candy had been the one that had awoken Lilly's inner most sexual desires, ones that beforehand Lilly had no idea even existed. Yet, this submissive, meek Omega wolf had finally found her niche and outlet; A place where she could truly assert her dominance.

Candy just gritted her teeth, biting her tongue hard enough to draw blood, meanwhile Lilly eyeing Candy's slit greedily and with intent.

Eager to taste and not wasting any time, Lilly greedily lapped Candy's opening, almost eliciting a howl of pleasure from her. Candy, not knowing what else to do, bit down deep into her paw in an attempt to stay quiet. Candy clenched her eyes shut and tensed her whole body, pushing Lilly's face into her moist folds with her paws.

She was trying to keep their location a secret, except from the select few whom she trusted with all her heart. Those wolves being Reba, Janice, Sweets and Salty. Candy almost laughed to herself, she would draw the attention of the Northern Pack if she could really vocalize the way Lilly was making her feel. Anybody that visited the den within the next month surely would pick up on the scent and know what happened. The fact that Lilly, a virgin and perhaps the most innocent wolf she had ever met was doing this turned her on the whole lot more.

"Awww yes Lilz! Thats it!" Candy whispered with desire, completely incapacitated as Lilly's tongue adventured, probing and flicking over her G-spot.

The stimulation was quick and unexpected, sending a large wave of pleasure racking through her body.

"FUCK YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" Candy hissed loudly, announcing her pleasure to the whole forest and emptying her lungs in doing so.

With no air left in her lungs, drunk on pleasure and with absolutely no way of warning, Candy had reached her climax. Upon feeling Lilly's tongue penetrate her folds for the final time, Candy let loose, squirting uncontrollably. She could feel herself digging her claws into the den floor as she completely drenched Lilly's face with her juices.

"WOOOAH... What!?" Lilly exclaimed, pouncing backwards.

Lilly, initially aghast, was taken aback by the sudden turn of events. She didn't know whether to be horrified or amused by the large amount of fluid that had gushed from her friend. She did however have a pretty good idea of what had just happened, a look of fascination turning to disgust on her face.

"What the fuck?" Lilly added, rapidly shaking her head a to remove the juices from her face.

Candy would have laughed, but was too overwhelmed to speak. Panting, Candy laid on the den floor looking up at Lilly; The white wolf rubbing her eyes and letting out an involuntary sneeze. Lilly, of course had not yet been satisfied, so she was the first to break the silence. Lilly flicked her fringe away from her eyes in a pompous manner much like her sister would.

"Bitch." Lilly joked, a look of amusement on her face.

"Well, it looks like it's my turn now, doesn't it?" She then added raunchily, walking towards Candy with a predator look in her large innocent lilac eyes.

"Ahem" Candy coughed, directed at Lilly.

Lilly continued to stalk Candy, slowly approaching her but raising an eyebrow in question.

"Ahhh-hhhh-hhheemmmmm" Candy then emphasized with wide eyes, her paw motioning to the den entrance as a blush rose to her face.

An uneasy feeling washed over Lilly as she stopped dead in her tracks, not wanting to turn around. This part of her told her that her mother had finally found her, her punishment probably would be indefinite as to satisfy Evelyn's need for revenge.

Lilly grimaced, closing her eyes and sighing in defeat. She turned around, without fear or hesitation, as there was nothing she could do to change the outcome. Lilly however had certainly not expected this sight.

"Janice!.. Ahaha..ha!" Lilly managed, her eyes fixated on the 2 female wolves stood at the den entrance.

Lilly blushed wildly, awkwardly looking back at Candy, not knowing how much of their ordeal Reba and Janice had witnessed.

"Well well well girls, how are things going?" Janice piped up after a moments silence.

Janice looked to Reba, an extremely shocked yet knowing look on her face. Reba, seeming embarrassed nodded in confirmation to Janice before looking away into the forest, unable to face Lilly or Candy at the moment.

As if on cue for the moments silence, Lilly darted to Candy's side as she was slowly raising to her paws. Lilly sat bolt upright, straight back with a seemingly innocent yet awkward grin on her face. She prodded Candy with her paw to gain her attention

"Just act natural okay" Lilly muttered under her breath, her mouth unmoving.

Candy nervously shifted her paws, awkwardly looking towards the ground. She looked back up and replied.

"Ooooh. Haha. Y'know, things are good. I've been hunting for Lilly and stuff sooo... yeah..." She trailed off.

"We're erm... Just chilling." She added after a moment.

"Yeah it sure looks like it..." Janice replied, suspiciously eyeing the claw marks gouged into the den floor.

She then sent Candy a knowing wink, only to merit an infuriated scowl from her in response. Silence ensued.

"Well this is awkward." Reba said to herself, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Lilly, fed up and not being able to stand the pressure of the situation any longer decided to pipe up.

"How much exactly did you see?" She asked, dreading the answer.

Candy shot a glare of hate at Lilly, as if she were confirming their suspicions.

"Tooooooo much." Janice replied, slowly shaking her head with a slight look of disgust.

Reba raised her paws into the air in protest.

"Hey hey! Haha, look, listen. Erm, we're happy for you girls. Seriously, we just had no idea so you took us by complete surprise!" She commented.

"There's nothing wrong with it, we're just shocked." Reba continued.

"HAHAHA. Oh no no, it's nothing like that!" Candy said faking a smile.

"We were just... Wrestling. Haha. Yeah, I've been teaching Lilly how to hunt." Candy added.

Reba raised her eyebrow and commented.

"Suuuure."

Awkward enough as it was, and not wanting to dwell on the situation any longer; Candy abruptly decided to change the subject.

"Anyway girls! Progress report?" Candy said cheerfully.

Reba and Janice were 2 of the few wolves that actually knew where Lilly and Candy had being hiding out, following the confrontation with Eve 2 days earlier. Candy had appointed the duo as messengers, so to speak. Their duties were to update Candy and Lilly on what was happening within the Pack during their absence. The duo of course, being playful Omegas that were looking for adventure had eagerly agreed to such a task, making them feel important; Almost like spies. Reba began to speak.

"Things are actually pretty normal in the Pack. Everyone's getting along with the East quite well actually. Then, there's your mother. Oh, and your father Winston. I will start with him. Erm, he's pretty gutted about Kate's disappearance but he doesn't dwell on much else. Sorry Lilly, he hasn't mentioned you and he looks too traumatized to do anything at the moment."

Janice decided to continue for her friend.

"Yeah, but your mother Looks hell bent on destruction."

She paused, then continued.

"She's a lunatic, she's up at night searching for you. And, I don't mean with kind intentions. You'd better hope she doesn't get her paws on you again Lilly, but that's what we're here for."

"Yeah." Reba added in agreement.

"Hmm what else?" Reba then questioned herself.

"Oh yeah, she's had most of the Alpha's searching for you over the last couple of days too. She attacked Hutch for refusing to search for you on his day off from his duties, sooo she's pretty damn serious... Ooooooh, and by the way, Sweets send her regards."

"So what about my sister and Humphrey?" Lilly questioned the duo. Janice decided to answer.

"Well, there's still no sign of them. It's pretty big news in the Park at the moment. A lot of the wolves in the Park kind of take your mother as a paranoid mess. No offence, but between you running away and Kate disappearing, her midnight searches... Yeah. Lots of us are finding it hard to take her seriously. But, I'm sure you've heard the rumors. Worst of all, some wolves are actually buying it. We don't of course, there's just no way Humphrey would abduct and rape Kate. It's like the biggest pile of shit I've ever heard. Firstly Humphrey is just not like that, and secondly who would even dare... Pfft. Who would even try to rape your sister?" Janice said and laughed, making Lilly and Candy chuckle.

"Yeah I know. She scares me too, she kind of reminds me of my mother in a lot of ways." Lilly commented, grimacing. An involuntary shiver going up her spine at the thought.

Reba looked towards Janice as she shrugged, with nothing else really in mind to say.

"Well, I think that's everything." Reba commented.

"You coming down to the lake with us? We're spending the day there. It's been pretty cool this morning, but the suns burnt its way through the clouds. Something tells me it's going to be the hottest day yet." Janice interjected, wiping her brow in emphasis.

"Yeah, we've got some catching up to do. Besides, we can talk about guys and stuff!" Reba added enthusiastically.

Janice turned her head and stared at Reba, raising her eyebrows in question.

"I don't think Lilly and Candy are interested in that kind of talk, dear... Are you feeling okay?" Janice sarcastically supplied with a laugh, pressing her paw to Reba's forehead as if testing her temperature.

Candy growled loudly to this, Lilly's face, guilty of their convictions began to turn a deep shade of red. Lilly hid her face in Candy's fur as Reba and Janice burst out laughing.

"We're staying hidden thanks." Candy replied to the girls with attitude.

"Jeeeez! Ease up lovebirds." Reba said, then continued.

"We will see you soon." Reba said blowing a kiss, before walking out into the sweltering mid-summers heat with Janice hot on her tail.

\- 8 hours later-

The faint orange hue of the sun had finally been engulfed by darkness, as it dipped below the horizon of the forest revealing the full moon in all its glory. Janice was right, Lilly thought as she looked up at the sky from their den, staring at the constellations which had been revealed on this unusually crisp mid-summers night. It had been the hottest day of the year so far; Even to the point where the forest floor burnt underpaw due to the intense piercing nature of the sunlight. Lilly and Candy of course had not been able to leave their den in the sweltering heat, attempting to remain hidden from the groups of Alphas which had been searching for them. Lilly sighed, again looking to the skies and eyeing the stars. It amazed her what details she could now pick up on in the absence of the overwhelming sunlight. This was much like an analogy for life and she realized this now.

It's not necessarily your role in the pack, your parents expectations or how much of a conformist you are that truly matters in life. What is important is all the little details. Lilly understood this having had separation from the overwhelming woman in her life; Evelyn. She had time to think; What made life so special were the day to day things that are usually taken for granted. This is, for example, the simplistic beauty of the forest at sunset, the day to day routines with happy chatting and laughing with friends. Helping wolves in need even; And feeling good about it as a result of that.

Because behind all finite measures such as pack status, face value beauty and your social standpoint; In the end of days you are left with nothing but the simple essence of yourself. Your spirit.

Lilly had been uncompromising in her approach to wolves, always maintaining a positive outlook on life. Many may say it takes great tenacity for an Omega wolf such as Lilly to retain such an upbeat philosophy, when most of her life she had been subject to abuse, beatings and ridicule by her family. It goes without saying that Lilly's spirit is strong and unwavering; Perhaps most importantly of all, this meant her spirit was free, unaffected by external stimuli and the dogma of the Pack.

Now, with time and space to think; Upon close analysis of herself, she had the clarity to realize that it was the minor day to day interactions kept her going and made her happy in life. Her interactions were beneficial to her friends as much as theirs were to her. Her interactions with friends, laughs and games made her life worth living; the selfless giving and taking had made her light shine. What's more, Lilly would forever maintain a clear conscience; She would hold her head in pride until the day she passed away.

Upon looking to Candy, she could now see her essence in greater depth, finally understanding the ideal social bond they shared. Perhaps, the intricate details that she had never identified in her friend before due to her overwhelming character, were the sheer complexity of their social interactions together.

Though Lilly was a very open minded wolf, she had always viewed her emotions as black and white. There was happiness, sadness, anger, even love perhaps.. But they were all separate emotions.

Lilly had been proven wrong on this occasion; And how so? Lilly knew she was wrong because she did not regret her actions with Candy today in the den.

Infact, Lilly had enjoyed every minute of it. Despite being very much attracted to males, she couldn't help but grin to herself mischievously. She had enjoyed the female on female action. The feelings that she held towards Candy were certainly that of love. This was not typical love however; It was the type of love that you would associate with a close friend or sibling, a person that you could share anything with and that would do anything for you. It was the type of bond, deep and caring that enabled the duo to connect and engage in such acts without any awkward feelings; At least after the initial shock of what they had done had worn off. Perhaps the majority of the appeal for Lilly was the taboo nature of their interactions, giving her that extra spark, spicing up her life.

"So. No weird feelings then?" Lilly questioned, sat much closer than she usually would, with her pelt up against Candy's.

"Hahahaa no. Of course not. I liked it didn't I?" Candy commented with a wink.

Lilly blushed a little to this, but wholeheartedly agreed.

"Yeah I can tell you sure did. You soaked me. It's just a shame I didn't get to finish." Lilly added.

It was Candy's turn to blush.

"Yep... I sure did. At least the best thing about being with a girl is that they actually know what a tongue is for." Candy piped up.

Lilly looked away and giggled mischievously to this, before commenting.

"You know what makes it so great though? It's so wrong. It would probably make my mother so pissed if she knew. She would probably go on a rampage and decide to eat one of the Omegas."

Candy laughed to this and replied.

"HAH! You rebel. I KNEWWW IT."

Lilly just winked at Candy, enjoying the newfound feelings of being able to live her life without restrictions.

"Grrrrrrr!" Lilly menacingly growled, making the innocent white wolf look almost cute.

"Badass, definitely." Candy added, nodding her head in assurance.

"What now? Surely I can't smell that good!" Candy then teased, observing Lilly sniffing the air in the den.

Lilly placed a paw on Candy's shoulder.

"Hold on. I can smell a scent. I recognize it." Lilly said seriously, gaining a look of concern from her friend.

"But from where?" Lilly asked herself, pondering the question.

Lilly turned around, walking to the entrance of the den, looking out towards the full moon. She sniffed the air feverishly, in attempts to pick up on the scent again; Hopefully, perhaps, it would reinvigorate her memory.

Lilly eyed the ground nervously, eyes darting. The tree line scattering only minimal moonlight to the forest floor. It was now that she knew it wasn't her imagination, nor the wind echoing in the trees, she definitely heard what she thought to be footsteps.

'CRACK'

The crack of a twig confirmed her suspicions, something was out there. Candy rushed to her friends side in the mouth of the den; Ready to assist her friend in any way.

"YOU'D BETTER SHOW YOURSELF ASSHOLE!" Candy bellowed stepping forwards, her protective nature over her friend showing face.

Lilly got in a stance, preparing to defend herself if need be should she be pounced on. The couple expected something quite large and ferocious to burst out of the trees, snarling and demonic, making its presence known. The reality of this however was quite anti-climatic.

The bushes, not 20 feet away began rustling loudly, the familiar sound of paws over mudded ground. Lilly picked up on the huffing of breath; Whoever it was had certainly been running. The mysterious black figure then began to walk slowly, out of the bush line and towards then den.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Candy then ordered, but no avail.

The mysterious dark figure continued slowly walking towards the den, the moonlight slowly beginning to illuminate the she-wolfs fur and the ground level mist surrounding her. The figure then stopped not 10 feet from the den, a wide stance and something dangling from her jaws. Lilly squinted her eyes and studied the intruder for a few moments, the familiar scent again wafting in her nostrils. Lilly looked to the ground to a second, as she processed the scent, and the wolf illuminated with golden fur stood in front of her. She widened her eyes in realization.

"KATE!" Lilly exclaimed, almost barking her name.

Kate just grinned to this, her eyes glowing like saucers in the dark, she confidently walked forwards, towards her sister until she stood immediately in front of her. Lilly involuntarily flung her forepaws around her sister with an 'OOFT', hugging her tightly.

The sisters stood in this position for around 15 seconds, before separating. Without talking, Kate walked past Lilly, emptying the contents of her mouth onto the den floor.

"I went hunting for you Lilly." Kate chimed, as Lilly observed the prey.

A golden coloured duck hit the floor with a splat, blood dripping from its neck. Immediately next to it, in a heaped ball was what appeared to be an old large goose. This explained perhaps why Kate was so out of breath. Lilly and Candy however paid no attention to this, just staring at Kate with a look of surprise, Lilly not really homing into what her sister was saying.

"OH MY GOD KATE! Where have you been!?" Lilly exclaimed.

"Ooooh around and about." Kate replied looking quite fed up, sitting on the den floor.

Lilly then began to bombard Kate with questions.

"Do our parents even know you're home yet? They've been looking for you!" Lilly shot.

"Yeah yeah, I've already been back to the pack, so they already know." Kate replied.

Candy began to get quite angry with Kate's seemingly candid and placid nature, as if she didn't know what she had put Jasper Park through.

"Kate! What the fuck happened? Everybody's been looking for you. Tell us!"

Kate huffed in frustration.

"Well, if you must know, I was taken by hunters, with Humphrey, to Sawtooth National Park in Idaho to 'repopulate'." Kate said with blatant annoyance.

The supply of information caused a frenzy of questions in Lilly's head.

"And what of Humphrey! Where is he? is he alright!?" Lilly asked, panic setting in.

"Oooooh Humphrey?" Kate laughed then continued.

"That shit. He set the whole thing up. He knew the hunters would be there. He's had his eyes set on me since the day my father let him into this pack and you've seen it. He raped me in my sleep Lilly! Can you even believe that? I will never ever be the same again..." Kate said, emphasizing her emotions and faking anger.

She paused, looking towards Lilly and Candy. Lilly was horrified, hearing it but not wanting to believe it was true. Perhaps her mother was right after all. Kate continued.

"I let the bastard live though, he was too ashamed to come back to the pack sooooo... He stayed in Idaho." Kate said, knowing full well that right now Humphrey was probably laying in a ditch somewhere, being torn apart by her mother and the rest of the Packs.

"I really don't like talking about it. So please..." Kate then added for extra emphasis.

Lilly stared at Kate intently, now having the ability to more deeply assess wolves and their personality. Something was off. Didn't seem right. Lilly looked at Kate's facial expressions. She wouldn't look her in the eyes and was shuffling her paws nervously on the ground. Not only this, her fur was far too groomed to have been raped and she didn't even seem shaken up in the slightest bit. The evidence was in the minor details.

"You're lying." Lilly candidly stated, having seen and heard enough.

"What!?" Kate exclaimed, raising her paws to her chest in protest

"I would never!" Kate continued

Candy, fed up of her antics began to growl loudly and commented.

"How long are we going to play this game for Kate? We don't buy it. You can't lie for shit."

Kate knew it was pointless staying in character. She grinned, almost evilly.

"You got me!" Kate half joked, putting her hands up in the air.

Her sisters sarcasm made Lilly feel sick to her stomach. She knew something was really wrong. She had to get to the point.

"You disgust me Kate. Why would you even make something like that up? I can't even believe we are sisters." Lilly spat, not wanting to look at Kate.

"Ooooft! I like it. You've grown quite a mouth on you now Lilly. I'd keep that in check though, after all you are a weak and pathetic Omega." Kate replied confidently and with a growl, getting in a pouncing position.

In response to this, Candy protectively readied herself in a stance, nudging Lilly and signaling her to stand behind her. Lilly did so, meek and peeking out at her sister.

"That's it weakling." Kate teased, familiar and all to fed up with the white wolfs antics.

Candy growled loudly.

"What the fuck is your problem? That is your sister and has been for the last 2 and a half years!"

Kate appeared to think about the question for a few seconds, before Candy again interjected.

"Infact, scratch that. Forget about it. Liar. I can't even trust you!"

Kate growled to Candy and replied.

"Please shut up, that's rich coming from you. You guys don't hunt or contribute to pack life in any way. The lot of you. Lazy. And yet you wonder why you don't get any decent guys. This pack doesn't want you! It doesn't owe you anything! And I'm fed up of pretending to like useless Omega's like yourselves."

Candy was totally disgusted, she scowled and shook her head is disgrace, spitting a little on the floor. She then eyed Kate skeptically.

" At least answer me this. How did you find us? And what exactly do you want?" Candy asked.

Kate laughed heartily to such a question, causing Candy to growl angrily.

"Calm down. We wouldn't want to mess that pretty face up would we?" Kate spat.

Before Candy had time to reply, Kate let out an involuntary laugh and piped up.

"No no! Actually I will tell you... It does concern you after all doesn't it? That is not that much does, because you're Omegas and have absolutely no concept of responsibility... Anyway. Finding you wasn't difficult. I just had to beat it out of that anaemic Omega friend of yours, Salty. Really it was a terrible shame it had to come to that. Yeah. And get a better hideout next time too, I could smell your scents from miles away." Kate said, laughing then pausing.

Kate snickered to herself, eyeing Lilly with intent as if she were prey.

"And I'm here for you, you little bitch." Kate said, pointing an accusing paw at Lilly.

She continued.

"You think you can hit my mate to be and just get away with it? Well we will just have to see how much you like it when mother gets hold of you. Everybody is looking for you and I'm taking you back to the pack, like it or not. I will drag you if I have to, you can trust me on that." Kate said and sneered.

Despite Kate not being able lose any more face in front of her sister, she raised her paws in front or her chest in apparent protest and commented.

"And before you start whining at your bitch of a sister, try to remember that she is the one actually following the Pack Law, I'm not the self proclaimed outcast." Kate added.

Lilly stepped backwards to the rear of the den, panic stricken.

"Let's go!" Kate then barked, only to be met by a few seconds of silence and Lilly avoiding her gaze.

"I said LETS GO!" Kate then repeated, even louder than the first time.

Candy stepped in.

"Lilly's not going anywhere with you... And, you're not going anywhere else until you tell us where Humphrey is." Candy ordered with force, forming a pouncing stance.

"Oh yeah Omega? What makes you so sure?" Kate spat back, with an extremely snotty attitude, slowly but confidently walking up to candy.

Kate shook her head, as if losing her focus. She growled.

"Look Omega, step aside. I'm just doing my duty. Now just get out of my way and let me take my sister, then nobody needs to get hurt."

Candy tensed her muscles in her stance, almost rolling her eyes.

"You seriously expect me to just move?" Candy replied, picking apart the ridiculous statement.

To this, Kate sighed, looking towards the ground. She then shook her head in apparent pity. She looked up from the ground, staring directly into Candy's eyes. She paused for a moment.

"Well... I guess somebody needs to get hurt then." Kate then somberly replied.

The den was unnaturally silent; Unmoving for a few seconds. The tension and fear almost creating a thick scent in the air. Noticing the opportunity, Candy unexpecting and off guard, Kate pounced at her prey, invoking a scream of terror from Lilly.

Kate sent Candy cascading into the den wall, on impact coughing and spluttering.

"YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND NOW OMEGA? HUH!?" Kate shouted at Candy, whom was clutching her head in pain.

Kate had her paws over Candy's chest, pounding in anger whilst blood ran from Candy's nose. Not knowing what else to do in such a situation, Lilly had to make a drastic move.

"STOP IT KATE! JUST STOP IT! I'LL GO BACK!" Lilly cried, tears braking free at the sight of her friend in such a mess.

She would make sure that nothing would happen to Candy. Even if it meant going back with Kate to ensure her friends safety, so be it. Candy and Kate turned to face Lilly, Kate abruptly stopping her beating, seemingly processing this for a few seconds.

"Thank god!" Kate shouted in frustration.

" Lilly get back here now and lets head out!" Kate then ordered, shocking Lilly into slowly raising to her paws, walking slowly towards her sister.

"BULLSHIT LILLY." Candy broke the silence, pointing her paw towards Lilly.

"That's not gonna happen!" Candy added, wiping her bloodied nose with her paw.

Candy then turned back to face Kate, whom was on top of her with paws around her neck. She confidently whispered Into Kate's ear.

"I'm not going down without a fight, bitch."

What was to come next would chill Lilly to the bone. Despite Kate's ways, she would always be her sister; One that at least she would make an effort to care about. Candy however was having none of it.

On impulse, Candy lashed out with her paw, leaving 3 deep and bloody gashes strewn across Kate's chest. The impact knocked Kate to the floor of the den, as she clutched her chest in pain.

"You fucking stupid Omega!" Kate hissed between her teeth as she writhed on the floor in pain, blood beginning to seep from the torn tissue.

Lilly ran between the 2 wolves, in attempts to separate them. She looked to Kate, her own sister in flesh and blood. She wanted to feel shocked and angry by what had happened to her as she laid there bleeding on the den floor. Unfortunately for Lilly however, the only emotion she could process was that of hate towards her sister. Hate for what she had done to Candy. Hate for all the snobbery, hate for all the years of abuse and hate for living her life in Kate's shadow.

The very principle of this Lilly found difficult to fathom, making her feel guilty to the bottom her heart. Lilly began to sob loudly and uncontrollably in this seemingly hopeless situation. She tenderly placed her paw upon Kate's chest in sorrow, looking down at her as a tear escaped her eye.

"Are you okay?" Lilly asked her sister in a meek voice.

Kate looked up from her pain, which was evident in her amber eyes and looked directly at Lilly.

"It's all your fault...Fuck. You. Sister." Kate managed, rasping for breaths. She said it slowly and intently, with great malice in her voice.

The words hit her like floodwaters. They had literally taken all her breath away, and had maliciously been designed by Kate to invoke such feelings. Something had snapped in Lilly.

"WELL FUCK YOU TOO THEN!" Lilly yelled back in Kate's face, spitting at her in doing so.

Having nothing more worth saying to Kate, Lilly quickly turned to Candy who was slowly trying to raise to her paws.

"Cmon, let's get you up and out of here" Lilly said hastily, pushing her nuzzle under her friend to help her to her paws.

"Lilly." Candy said sternly, looking at Lilly. She continued.

"Let me distract Kate. You just get out of here, okay?"

"Where will I go? And what about you!?" Lilly exclaimed, tears once again forming in her eyes.

"I will be okay, Lilly. Trust me, I will follow your scent and meet up with you later once I'm sure that Kate no longer poses a threat to you." Candy said somewhat logically.

"Thanks." Lilly replied, a hint of urgency remaining in her voice.

Kate however was a predator; A predator that saw her opening. Kate wouldn't play fair in this game... After all, this was the wilderness and she was the wolf.

Candy moved forwards, proceeding to nuzzle Lilly.

"Look, it maybe a few hours, maybe a few months but I wi-" Candy was cut off.

Kate launched herself at Candy, only this time with the intent to kill. Eyes focused, she extended her sharp claws as she leapt brimming with confidence and ferocity. This was no longer just about taking her sister home. This was personal.

Kate braced herself as she collided with the omega; Her claws cutting deep into Candy's chest. Instantly, after impact with the den floor, Kate formed an evil grin. She began to slowly and tantalizingly drag her claws across Candy's body; Ripping into her flesh in the process.

"LILLY! ARRRRAAAGH! PLEASE DO SOMETHING." Candy managed behind hysterical tears.

Lilly, adrenaline filled, snapped into action. As far as she was concerned; Kate was dead to her, definitely no longer her sister. Without a moment's hesitation, Lilly instinctually bit deep down into Kate's paw drawing crimson blood and almost gagging at the unfamiliar taste.

"YOU LITTLE BITCH!" Kate yelled, reeling in agony and shock as the delicate white wolf latched onto her paw.

The 2 sisters snarled and growled at one another, Kate's claws being yanked away from Candy's body in the struggle. Lilly, however was unrelenting when it came to protecting her friend as she refused to let go of Kate's paw. Kate, fed up of her sisters antics roughly slapped her across the face with her free paw, knocking Lilly unconscious to the floor in the process.

Lilly hit the ground with a 'thud'. She didn't even remember the impact before the blackness had engulfed her whole reality.

"Come get me sister! I dare you!" Kate teased menacingly.

Those were the words that echoed through her mind in a dreamlike state, her consciousness slowly rousing. She had decided that she must have been out for at least a minute, as she felt the aching pulse of blood rushing throughout her head. She laid on the floor as she came around, whilst trying not to clutch her face in pain. She was playing dead while she could conjure up a plan; She had decided it would be best to assess her situation first.

Lilly looked immediately to her left, cracking opening one eye as she analyzed Candy's condition; It wasn't good. Candy's chest was torn up, blood beginning to pool at her feet. Candy was close enough to Lilly to realize that she was awake, and therefore began to whisper into her ear.

"Never give in Lilz. Promise me. Love you flower." Candy managed.

Lilly, not making a sound began to silently tear up. Somehow she knew that these were words of goodbye, the last words they would ever speak to one another. Lilly could no longer help herself and began sobbing hysterically, her tears pattering on the den floor generating muddy prints.

"I know you're awake Lilly!" Kate shouted.

Kate paused for few seconds, faltering in her aggressive advances.

"It didn't have to be this way!" She then added, as if trying to protect her guilty conscience.

Candy, delirious and suffering from huge blood loss had decided that this would be her finest hour. She had no regrets in her life, and had experienced life to the fullest. Today had been bittersweet for her. Sweet as was the day that she had connected to her number 1 wolf, Lilly, in way deeper than just friends. Bitter as it would be the day that she would cease to exist. Or who knows? It was an adventure for Candy, to which all the marvels of creation would be opened up to her.

She looked down at Lilly in a sad gaze, silently pitying her friend as she would be left as a lone wolf in this world, with nobody to love or talk to, let alone manage to survive.

Candy refocused on Kate in front of her with all the energy she could muster, after all, it would be the last move she would ever make.

Candy sloppily swung her paw at Kate's face knowing that she would easily counter it. This went to plan for Candy, as Kate grabbed her paw in her jaws, twisting it as she fell to the ground with a sickening snap.

Candy of course wanted to scream out in pain, but she wouldn't give a disgraceful wolf such as Kate the privilege of knowing that. She simply laid on the floor, her eyes closed and tears streaming down her face. Her reaction; Or lack of it so to speak had infuriated Kate further.

'RUN.' Was the only word that Candy mouthed to Lilly, as Kate was distracted going for the kill.

This was all the encouragement that Lilly needed, as she sprang to her feet, pouncing into the pale moonlight of forest. In her eyes Kate was now as psychotic as her mother, they just had too much in common. The key difference, however, was that at least her mother played by the rules; Kate didn't. Lilly knew they were both wolves that would gladly satisfy their revenge on her, however she wasn't going to stick around to find out.

Lilly must have had a 10 seconds head start in front of her sister as she darted through the thick trees, tears streaming down her face. The moonlight was not majestic, but haunting her on this mid-summers night. She could feel her heartbeat in overdrive, adrenaline taking over her body therefore dulling the pain from her injuries.

It was difficult for Lilly to hide from her sister. Not only was her sister the best Alpha in the west; Her vibrant white fur would stick out like a beacon under the gaze of the moonlight penetrating the tree line. She had no option but to keep running, her breath hitching as she dodged the dense foliage.

"COME OUT! WHEREVER YOU ARE!" Lilly heard not too far behind her, deafening the silent night, almost making her jump out of her skin.

Of course! She thought. Even though Lilly was out of immediate sight, the Alpha was tracking her scent. She had to somehow get rid of it. Reacting on impulse, she darted sideways in the direction of the lake that herself and Candy had played in not 2 days earlier.

The change in direction had slightly thrown Kate off, as she sniffed at the ground to ascertain a scent. Once she had picked up on it again, she sprinted, following it with haste.

Lilly could hear the running of a trained Alpha not too far behind her, the pattering of her footsteps getting slowly but surely closer. She couldn't let her legs tire. She had to make it to the lake before Kate did. Fear dripped off Lilly as she slammed through the ring of bushes that surrounded the lake.

Thinking ahead, she had the perfect hiding spot in mind. Lilly dashed along the white beach sand surrounding the lake, illuminated in the clear crisp moonlight. She was heading for a small isolated pocket of the lake which was overgrown by pond reeds, algae and lily pads.

When she was not 6 feet away, Lilly leapt at the small pond, crashing through the unusually warm yet stagnant water. Lilly closed her eyes and held her breath, suspended in the water. She couldn't splash about, or Kate's sensitive Alpha hearing would surely pick up on her location.

She laid floating in the water for around 90 seconds, the odour from the pond would mask her scent. Her heart was beating like a drum; And now to match that her lungs were burning, begging for oxygen.

Lilly knew she had to get air, or she would be dead anyway. Slowly but surely, she allowed her body to rise to the surface of the pond. As she surfaced, the top of Lilly's head gently parted the lily pads. She gasped greedily for air, but doing her utmost to stay silent; As if that was even possible. She proceeded to wipe the green water out of her eyes with her paws, trying to focus her vision.

"GET OUT HERE LILLY. NOW!" A bellow came from down the beach.

Lilly's breathing rate increased as her eyes darted about the beach in agitation, scanning for her pursuer. This was to no avail, a lump formed in Lilly's throat.

"I KNOW YOU'RE THERE!" The she-wolf shouted.

Lilly stayed in cover, waiting in nervous anticipation for a few seconds.

Perhaps not even 80 feet away near the other end of the lake, the bushes burst open; Leaves scattered like confetti, branches snapping off at awkward angles and being catapulted into the lake. Instantly following this was the wolf that Lilly least wanted to see. Kate.

Kate walked, slowly and methodically down the beach, sniffing, looking left and right like a hunter stalking its prey. As she walked further onto the beach, the black silhouette stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the full moon.

This was indeed a horrific sight. The moonlight revealed Kate for who she really was, the masquerading demon revealed in the omniscient light. Kate stopped in the middle off the beach, huffing and puffing for breath as it condensed in front of her.

The wolf growled deeply, her jaws parted; A long strip of crimson flesh hanging from her teeth. The blood, coagulated and clumped all over her face proceeded to run down her chin, staining the sand red. The once golden fur was messy and unkempt, sticky and knotted. Being downwind of the Alpha, Lilly could pick up on her scent; What disturbed Lilly more was the other scent that clung to Kate's. She had come to recognize this as Candy.

Lilly was going to be sick, knowing exactly what had happed. She stifled a sob, not having the energy to cry anymore; Her bloodshot eyes without lustre.

"I don't want to hurt you Lilly." Came the sinister voice from down the beach.

Lilly would have accused Kate of double standards, as her words betrayed her actions. She slowly stalked Lilly's scent, walking in circles on the beach and leaving deep red paw-prints in the sand.

Kate continued walking up and down the beach for the best part of 5 minutes, relentless in her pursuit and Lilly refusing to break from cover. It was the matter of a waiting game. At this point, Lilly would have rather been discovered by any pack member; Even her mother rather than make her presence known to Kate.

"You stupid Omega! Where are you?" Kate berated herself, sniffing trying to figure out Lilly's whereabouts.

She couldn't Look for paw-prints, after all the sand was full of them. She sighed to herself in frustration, snapping her head backwards looking in the direction she had come. The Omega had set up a false scent trail, she knew it. She would have to head back the direction she came and look for forks in the path, she mused to herself.

Besides, she would come back to the lake later on to clean off, getting rid of any evidence.

"DAMN IT!" Kate yelled, slamming her paw into the sand; The fine material clumping up and sticking in her fur.

Kate began slowly walking back into the forest, focused as ever with her nose against the ground. Lilly let out an involuntary sigh of relief. Kate's ears flicked at the sound, her head whipping in random directions.

"I'm hearing shit." Kate muttered to herself, not wanting to dwell on it any longer.

Kate sighed, essence of murder clung to her fur. She continued walking towards the foliage, disappearing out of sight.

Lilly remained silent this time, until she was absolutely sure Kate was out of earshot. 3 minutes had passed after Kate's departure and there was still no sign of her.

Lilly inhaled deeply, letting out a nervous shaking breath. Gently, she began kicking her legs, propelling herself to the bank of the pond. She felt her forepaws make contact with the silk riddled sand beneath her feet, and began digging into the sludge; Dragging her weary body onto the bank. The water gushed off Lilly and onto the sand, matting the fur to Lilly's slender feminine body.

Lilly was in a situation to say the least. She had no home, no shelter and no friends. She would surely die if she didn't find shelter. She had to be strong though; She had promised Candy.

As much as she wanted to curl up in a ball and cry after the day's events, Lilly knew she had a job to do. With her teeth chattering together, Lilly observed her surroundings illuminated by the moonlight. She didn't even know where to begin finding shelter; She was an Omega after all...

Lilly sighed, walking along the white sand of the beach in no particular direction. She had to leave the area before Kate returned, at least this was a start. The Omega tiredly made her way across the sand, the water dripping off her. She began staring into the crystal clear lake as she walked, somewhat amazed by its change in appearance at night.

The water looked inviting as the moonlight shimmered off it. Perhaps, she mused, if she wasn't in such a dire situation she would go for a swim.

As Lilly continued to walk and gaze into the water, her eyes darted over a darker patch at the shore of the lake. She initially thought nothing of it, dismissing it perhaps as water vegetation. However, as Lilly neared the said area, her nose once again picked up an oddly familiar scent.

Curiosity got the better of Lilly; It only made sense to her as the scent was growing stronger and stronger as she approached the said area. Lilly stood, watching as the lake water rippled against the shoreline. That was a natural fact, granted. What was disturbing for Lilly however was the fact that the water was stained an unnatural red colour.

Lilly felt like she was going to once again be sick into the sand, having seen enough blood and violence for one day. Contrary to this, Lilly berated herself for letting such thoughts take control of her. She wasn't that wolf anymore; She hoped.

"Damn! Be strong Lilly!" Lilly said, trying to console herself.

Lilly had decided that she needed closure.

Kate must have washed herself off here, Lilly thought. She lowered her head to the water, sniffing it to ascertain a scent. Once again, the familiar scent registered in Lilly's brain but she couldn't associate a name with it. At least it wasn't Candy's scent, meaning there was a possibility she was still alive; No matter how remote. Kate hadn't bathed here.

Lilly proceeded to taste the water, gagging as she did so. This was the best thing she could do to find out which wolf or animal this blood game from. Grimacing as she did so, Lilly began swilling the red tainted water throughout her mouth, breathing in through her nose.

She did this for a few seconds, then froze in place. Her eyes widened in recognition of the scent, her mind had finally solved the puzzle.

Humphrey!

Lilly spat out the foul red water, bleaching the sand of the beach and her immaculate white coat as she coughed and gagged.

Lilly stood unmoving for a few seconds, trying to compose herself before panic set in; She forced herself to breathe slowly and deeply through her nose. She would no longer panic. She was the strong wolf she had always wanted to become... She had to be.

She was free now in every way. Most of all, she was determined. Lilly hardened her gaze, having once again familiarized herself with Humphrey's scent.

Lilly now had a job to do now and a promise to fulfill to candy.

Lilly gritted her teeth together, staring up at the moon on this unusually quiet mid-summers night. It was watching her like a god, like a beacon of hope lodged in a cavern of evil. Perhaps even Candy was looking down on her, she mused.

Lilly's nose sniffed at the ground, picking up on Humphrey's trail. Brimming with determination, Lilly began following it, her white coat engulfed by the darkness of the canopy. She was prepared for whatever fate had to throw at her.


	4. A Roll Of The Dice

_Authors notes_

Hey fans! Sorry to keep you waiting, I haven't been able to update my story in a while. I've been really busy lately and I've needed the break. Don't worry though! I am aiming for quicker and more regular updates, at least over the next few weeks. Fingers crossed.

Without further ado, may I present Chapter 4 of the adventure.

* * *

Chapter 4 - A Roll Of The Dice

* * *

Fate...

A sense of belonging perhaps?

Maybe.

Some may call it a comfort for the weak minded; For there is a need to have a purpose in life... To feel appreciated. The simplistic nature of the adventure isn't enough for some.

Behind all the egotistical bloodshed of tyrants and the envy directed towards legends, lodged deep within the hearts of many wolves, the concept argues a divine presence.

A comforting thought for the most part, at least for those who cannot fathom the idea of being the product of a roll of a dice. Indeed for some, it is the uncertainty of their existence they cannot bear. They want an explanation, measurements perhaps, of the world around them. Of course, many wolves fail miserably in this respect, wasting their entire lives in pursuit of the holy grail. They end up believing in bestowed purpose as the most logical answer when all other theories are void to them.

For other wolves however, they turn to fate as it gives their lives meaning. A deep down unconditional love, guiding and nurturing them in an unfriendly hostile world. They thrive off the idea of purpose, adjusting their behaviors' accordingly, usually in the name of a divine being. This takes the forms of both good and evil. Their actions of course beg the question, what would be the point of living at all if in the end it was all for nothing?

However, Lilly did not know what to believe. Her life was uncertain.

Lilly of course was a simple wolf that took each day as it came, gaining maximum fulfillment from her basic thoughts, feelings and interactions. Being heart strong, her life was, and always had been about the adventure.

In retrospect, the concept of fate had never bothered her, or even occurred to her in the past. It had never needed to as she had been wrapped in the fantastic bubble which once was her reality; A true Omega lifestyle.

Recent events however pressed such issues in her mind. It bothered her far too much now. Come to think of it, she was unsure as to whether or not she actually believed in a soul. Part of her feared that her entire existence would be wiped clean on the inevitable day that she stopped breathing.

For what it was worth, Lilly at least wanted to believe that she was born for a reason. The essence of her existence had to amount to more than just simple coincidence. Hadn't it?

However, such faith was difficult for Lilly. The events of the past few days had only just began processing in her mind. It had left her in a state of shock.

She had a father that didn't care about her, more interested in his other daughter. She had a mother that detested her Omega personality with every fibre of her being, and a sister that probably wanted her dead. Of course, it went without saying that she was homeless too; She dreaded to think of the consequences of returning to Jasper Park.

These were perhaps the least of Lilly's worries. She knew that her mother had almost all the Alphas in the pack searching for her, throughout the day and night. She had remain hidden at all costs. What's more, she was a lone female Omega, with winter approaching; She had no idea how to hunt.

It also occurred to Lilly, no doubt, that Kate would spin a web of lies to the pack in regards to her murderous actions of the previous night. This is of course, was if such atrocities were even unveiled in the first place with Kate being a trained Alpha; Ideal for hiding evidence.

The said atrocity took the life of Lilly's only companion, Candy. One of the few friends who had actually stuck by her side since birth; Cruelly torn away, separated from her by Kate's paws. This is the day after they had tenderly confessed their feelings for one another, as it turned out, they ran deeper than either one of them could have imagined.

Needless to say, Lilly found it difficult to believe she had a guardian angel looking over her shoulder at such a point in her life. Her circumstances were dire. She had absolutely nobody. Yet, somehow, she had miraculously managed to survive.

Looking at probability, as an Omega, Lilly should already be dead. Lilly however was re-writing this so-called probability. Perhaps, she mused, this was her destiny.

She was making her own journey now and nothing would ever hold her back. Perhaps this was gods' will after all; Such internal strength must indicate a spirit right?

Lilly sighed and looked to the sleeping male form in front of her. Despite all the odds stacked against her, they had crossed paths in this unforgiving, hostile world.

Lilly let her eyes roam the grey wolf in front of her. He was curled up in the fetal position on the den floor, his body shivering a little as he whimpered. The wolf's teeth chatted together in his sleep with a pained expression on his face. Lilly was aware of his nose twitching in his slumber, fully prepared for the inevitable sneeze.

Lilly of course would have found this adorable, that is if she was not disturbed by the deep red claw marks running along his nuzzle.

They looked so out of character on a wolf like Humphrey. Lilly's initial intrigue had turned to anger as she let out a slight growl, narrowing her eyes on the unsightly gashes. It didn't take a master detective to figure out what had happened.

In a way, she wanted to cling to him like a newborn pup and weep. It was as if she was feeling all his pain and anguish as her own. Such empathy came easily as Lilly herself had been victimized. Eyeing him with pity, she wanted to curl up with him and tell him that everything would be alright. She wanted to tell him that she would be there to tend to his every single need and desire - perhaps, she mused, even to the end of her life.

In reality though, she knew she couldn't.

She couldn't make such promises with the future being so uncertain. What's more, she had to remain strong for both of them; She had promised Candy. She had to get them out of this mess, it was a matter of actions, not words. Lilly sniffled through blurry vision, tears threatening to hit the ground.

Silence ensued as Lilly continued to study Humphrey, her eyes fixated on his twitching nose as her exhausted form was almost lulled to sleep by his steady breathing. The wolf was blissfully unaware of prying eyes in his deep slumber. Lilly stared somewhat in envy; All she wanted to do was sleep. With her untrained tracking skills, she had been up most of the night in search for him. Not only this, she had been on edge all morning, guarding Humphrey from potential threats through her weary bloodshot eyes.

She shakily took a deep breath, somewhat re-invigorated by her new found confidence. She would get some sleep now, no matter what. Her body needed it. Her gaze slowly stroked over the beautiful grey and silver coat of her companion one last time, her eyes eventually fixating on his somewhat accentuated yet handsome features. She allowed a smile to creep to her lips, an ember of hope sprang through her body.

"It's all on purpose, Humph." Lilly whispered with a smile.

She curled up by his side and allowed sleep to overcome her.

\- 5 hours later-

Amnesia slowly began to fade away, replaced by an unfaltering blackness through closed eyelids. The first thing Humphrey realized was that he had cognitive ability, he was thinking.

What came next wasn't as pleasant however, making Humphrey grimace. His head began throbbing, a dull ache emanating from deep within his core. What had happened to him?

Humphrey managed to part his sticky eyelids slightly, the world outside his den appearing a total blur. This only increased his pain more, forcing him to clench his eyes shut as the pain was almost unbearable.

He realized that his heart rate was unusually high, beating away as if he had been running. He was struggling for breath too, his mouth was completely dry to the extent where he couldn't even move his tongue. Humphrey tried to think what was wrong with him and what had happened. For his valiant efforts he was rewarded with even more pain. He couldn't even think, let alone move.

The most logical explanation was dehydration, Humphrey thought. Come to think of it, he was THIRSTY. Putting everything aside, he decided that the first thing he needed to do was get a drink.

Humphrey had to move.

He forced himself, eyes closed, to his forepaws. He winced as he did so, a sharp pain shooting up his body. He yelped a little, as obviously he had sustained a very bad sprain. However, the noise and sudden movement only managed to exacerbate his condition.

"Aaaaaargh." Humphrey moaned to himself through a deep headache that emanated through his mind, his paws inadvertently clutching his face as he rasped for breath through his pain.

"AAAAAAAHH! WHAT THE HELL!" Humphrey then yelled as his eyes snapped open, a deep fiery sensation sweeping across his face as if it were burning into his flesh.

Upon retracting his paws from his face, Humphrey noticed the familiar sight of blood. He felt somewhat nauseated by the sight. As an Omega he wasn't used to seeing blood and violence, especially injuries inflicted upon himself. Something terrible must have happened the night before, he mused. He needed to get checked out.

"Okay don't panic, don't panic!" Humphrey said somewhat logically to himself, gritting his teeth and grimacing in pain for upsetting his fragile condition.

"What happened last night?" He continued in a hushed tone, so to not upset his delicate state.

Humphrey shook his head and gingerly rose to his paws, arching his back as he did so. Unfortunately for Humphrey, once again, he had put pressure on his sprain. A loud growl tore through him as he quickly yanked it away from the ground in haste. Tears came to his eyes and a whimper escaped his throat, remnants of his sloppy actions. He internally berated himself for forgetting something so obvious. If this wasn't bad enough, that burning sensation had now spread from his face to all across his body.

He looked down towards the den floor, confirming his suspicions. There was blood. His blood, and lots of it. This at least explained the pain in his chest, he thought to himself. Despite his efforts, Humphrey felt panic set in, a deep instinctive feeling telling him that he was in danger.

"Shhhhshhhhshh! Lay back down Humph." Chimed a feminine voice, coming from behind him.

The words echoed through his mind, to the point where he didn't know whether they were a figment of his imagination or not.

"Who are you! What!?" He shouted in pain and confusion.

"Shhhhhhhhhhh. Relax." Came the voice from behind him again, but this time a whisper, directly into his ear.

The said wolf began to nuzzle his neck and began licking him comfortingly as if sensing his agitation. He felt the warm tongue sooth him and clean his fur as he was lulled to paralysis by the wolf's actions. Once she had managed to calm Humphrey sufficiently, her warm nuzzle guided him back the den floor. Humphrey for all intents and purposes had given up, completely tamed by her behavior.

He hadn't even the energy to get a good look at her as he allowed the she wolf to tend to him. Despite being put at ease by her actions, a part of him silently prayed that she had good intentions.

"You're ribs are broken Humph, you need to take it easy." The female said, the familiar voice reverberating through his mind.

"Kate!?" Humphrey questioningly exclaimed, his eyes shooting open to get a good look at his captor.

"Lilly...?" He questioned, catching a glimpse of her evident ice white fur.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhh." Lilly cooed to him, comfortingly, as if to a pup.

Lilly pressed her nose gently against his, looking directly into his eyes.

"Calm down Humph." She continued, allowing Humphrey's anxiety to slowly melt away.

Humphrey was transfixed by her gaze for a few moments, allowing a blush to rise to his cheeks due to the unexpected action. Though Lilly had always been Humphrey's friends, she had always come across to Humphrey as a shy wolf; Such behavior was traditionally atypical of her.

Despite this, Humphrey was totally at ease as she gently rocked him with her forepaws. For all intents and purposes, she was mothering him. Drained of energy and huffing for breath, he placed his nuzzle in her neck for a few minutes in efforts to recuperate his thoughts.

"That bitch..." Humphrey eventually whispered to himself in a moment of mental clarity, breaking the silence.

Lilly didn't respond to this for a few seconds, seemingly processing his words. After a few moments, she gently pulled back from him, sitting on the den floor in front of him.

Lilly stared at him for some time, an understanding glint in her eyes. She then proceeded to giggle a little, trying to alleviate her friends somber mood.

Her actions further perplexed Humphrey however, causing him to stare back at her. Lilly, a self conscious wolf under scrutiny, immediately averted her gaze.

Lilly sighed at her failed attempts, obviously social interactions were not her strong point. She then looked back up at Humphrey with a sad smile, her eyes communicating that which did not need to be said.

Lilly slowly approached Humphrey once more and tenderly began to nuzzle him. She looked at the large claw marks running down his nuzzle, causing involuntary tears to stream down her face in pity for her friend. She raised her paw to his shoulder, comfortingly rubbing his back as she sniffled to herself.

"Bitch seems appropriate Humph." Lilly piped up through tears, remembering her sister's actions on the previous night.

The duo stood silent for a few moments as Lilly quietly sobbed into Humphrey's shoulder, her eyes fixed to the ground. However, Humphrey felt an element of unease as there was something he needed to get off his chest.

"Listen, Lilly... I never touched kate, I promise! I..."

"I know you didn't humph." Lilly immediately spat through gritted teeth.

She then growled loudly, almost possessively, causing Humphrey to open his eyes in shock.

"If she ever comes near you again, I will make sure she suffers. Don't you ever feel like you have to answer for anything, Humph." Lilly dictated in a protective manner.

Humphrey looked down to the white female resting her weight on him, somewhat astounded that she had such strong feelings for him. These were feelings that were completely foreign to him, at least being on the receiving end of them. Sure enough, he had spent years pining after Kate, but never before had any wolf ever truly cared about him. As an orphan, he had never really felt a part of a pack, so over the years he had to develop a thick skin. Despite this, he had to admit, he really enjoyed being the recipient of Lilly's caring nature.

"Thanks Lilly... It means a lot. It really does." Humphrey managed to murmur through his pained haze.

Fighting the pain with his newfound confidence, he playfully nudged at Lilly's shoulder in adoration of her actions. Humphrey inhaled slightly, taking in her fantastic feminine scent.

"Stop it Humph!" Lilly squealed, almost giggling despite her stress and sleep deprivation.

Lilly pulled away from the embrace, her facial features softening as she slowly studied the beautiful male in front of her.

"I guess we have a lot to talk about. I'm not even going to ask what happened to you." Humphrey said with a smile, fighting to stay upright in his current condition.

"I'm just glad you're okay." Lilly said with a sniff, her eyes growing watery and red.

In a mental lapse, and forgetting about his ailments, Lilly immediately wrapped her forepaws around him, hugging him tightly to her chest with surprising force.

The unexpected action however caused Humphrey to screech loudly, spasms of pain racking through his body before he fell to the floor. He had no more energy to stay upright as the sickly feeling had taken over his body once again.

"HUMPHREY! ... I'm so sorry! Are you alright!?" Lilly exclaimed as she started to panic.

Lilly stood over Humphrey's form protectively, looking down at him with concern. Blood once again slowly started to pool around his body, confirming Lilly's worst fears. One of his wounds must have opened up again. What's more, he no longer had the energy to speak as pain plagued nearly every part of his body. The pain had only intensified due to Lilly's actions, to the point where it had taken all the breath out of him.

"I'm so sorry Humphrey!" Lilly squealed, stress evident from her bloodshot eyes.

"Water." Humphrey rasped. It was the only word he managed to say through his pained, labored breaths.

Lilly would have responded to this if his body hadn't have gone limp. On impulse, she nudged at Humphrey's form with her nose in efforts to stimulate him. This was to no avail as his head rolled from side to side on the den floor as he felt his consciousness slowly slipping away.

"HUMPHREY!" Lilly yelled at the top of her lungs, wildly shaking him with her paws.

"Humphrey, please, wake up..." Lilly muttered in desperation as she scrunched her eyelids together and breathed in his scent in attempts to calm herself down.

A minute passed as Lilly stared at Humphrey expectantly, not knowing what else to do. A multitude of thoughts and emotions were rampant throughout her mind as she forced herself to breathe slowly and deeply. Despite her methodical efforts to relax, the stress of the whole situation had taken a hold of her.

Lilly began to quietly sob to herself, the remnants of her voice were tired and croaky. She had no tears left however, such was apparent through her shell-shocked, glassy appearance.

Exhausted, almost lifelessly, she collapsed to the ground by the side of him. With her Omega personality dulled by the harsh reality of life as an outcast, drained of energy, she was convinced that this was the end.

The couple were denied any respite however as the warm, orange hue of the evening sky was cut off by the obstruction of the tree line. The sky flashed green in an instant, then darkness ensued. No moon came to greet the forest on this night.

The shadows encroached upon the couple submerging them in a dark, sinister, stygian abyss. Perhaps, a sign that life itself was extinguished, like blowing out a candle.

Somehow, Lilly just knew that the time was right. She knew what needed to be said.

"I love you, Humphrey."


	5. Memories Linger On (P1)

_Authors notes_

Hey people!

Once again, I really apologize for such a late update. Apart from my life being so hectic lately, I decided on a few months break from writing. I guess, I've just been trying to gather my bearings as lots of things have been happening recently.

Anyways! Despite my neglect, I really appreciate and respect my fellow readers. I know you guys have been frequently messaging me about when this Chapter would be out. Needless to say, it has had a few deadline setbacks, but here it is. Hopefully, it will be well worth the wait!

I have been toying with some new ideas and plot twists, looking almost everywhere to find inspiration for my story in order to spice things up a little. It's taken me a long time, but, finally, I think this Chapter has the formula just about right!

You will see.

Please note, this Chapter is being released in 2 segments. The full content would well exceed 20,000 words, so I can't expect you guys to read all that without falling asleep! Not only this, something else to note is that I will register the story as 'Complete' when I have finished writing. I know with me being gone for so long that it has caused some confusion within my audience.

Anyway, I've got to go. I'm writing part 2 as we speak, so hopefully it shouldn't take too long.

Ohh, and one last thing.

Try not to get too creeped out.

* * *

Chapter 5 (Part 1) - Memories Linger On

* * *

"Wake up, my little lamb." The voice whispered.

The words incomprehensibly echoed into the empty void which once was his mind.

Despite hearing this, the words did not register at all. He merely existed as a single entity, no concept of memories, emotions or awareness. An unfathomable amount of time had passed before the voice once again tried to rouse his consciousness.

"Waaaaakeee upppp." The voice then sung gleefully, almost to the point of being sinister.

Humphrey's ears flickered towards the direction of the voice, his natural wolverine instincts coming into play. He paused momentarily as he concentrated on the huffing of his breath, as if waking up was some kind of Olympic sport. Humphrey then groaned to himself as he finally collected his thoughts, his mind seemingly to flood with memories all of a sudden.

Despite his initial fatigue, his icy blue eyes then snapped open with ease. Such was to be expected as they were already adjusted to the darkness. Humphrey sighed to himself through his usual tired haze, staring at nothing in particular on the den wall.

Humphrey paused for a few seconds as consciousness slowly returned to him, somehow trying to piece together the events of the last few days. He then groaned and shook his head in mild discomfort, scrunching his eyes up tight. His mind seemed to be going a million miles per hour.

"What a dream!" Humphrey finally uttered to himself in a delayed manner, followed by a small yawn.

He waited for what must have been a minute before conjuring up the energy to move his legs. Once he was ready, Humphrey slowly stood, somewhat sloppily. He then proceeded to arch his back and stretch his limbs with total ease. Such a turnout was unusual for Humphrey, for there were no stiff joint aches or cracks from his sedentary Omega lifestyle.

Despite this, perhaps most surprisingly of all, he had expected a sharp stabbing pain from a sprained paw, or the searing pain of broken ribs, traumatizing him all across body. If his memory served him correctly, he distinctly recalled being attacked by a violent pack of wolves.

Humphrey chuckled to himself slightly at such a ridiculous thought, letting out a deep sigh of relief. At least he didn't have those horrible, infected gashes gouged deep into his face - courtesy of his good friend Reba.

"Ugh, what's the point." The voice once again spoke, interrupting Humphrey from his thoughts.

The voice startled Humphrey this time, causing him to involuntarily tense up his body. He instinctually hunkered down to the ground in a defensive posture, trying his best to focus his ears on the direction of the voice.

Apprehensively, Humphrey held his breath, furrowing his brow deep in concentration. His imagination was doing him no favours either, as all he could hear was the constant thud of his own heartbeat against his chest wall.

After a few moments of internal anxiety, a drop of sweat accumulated on the bridge of his nose. He eyed it nervously as it gained in size, before running off and hitting the ground in front of him. Humphrey's ears flickered as it did so, somewhat startled by the splashing sound as it echoed throughout the den.

Humphrey continued to wait patiently, now certain that he could make out the faint pattering of pawsteps getting progressively quieter as they moved away from his current position. That at least confirmed his suspicions. He now knew that he hadn't simply imagined the voice. Definitely not this time. What's more, he had absolutely no idea who the voice belonged to. Feeling somewhat vulnerable by its close proximity, Humphrey decided that he needed to go and investigate.

With his curiosity getting the better of him, Humphrey turned around from the den wall towards the direction of the voice. What puzzled him most however was what greeted him upon doing so, something that made him stop dead in his tracks. The den appeared to be illuminated in a deep, crimson light, penetrating the darkness. It's shimmer was unusual, unique even, but yet it radiated an unsettling aura.

The light appeared to be very crisp, yet somehow, there was more to it. It was something Humphrey couldn't put his paw on. It was more like a form of energy, almost pulsating through the den entrance. The rocky den walls glistened with an orange and red hue, beaming the said colours in numerous directions as if precious stones lined them.

Apprehensively, Humphrey's eyes crept towards the den floor, only to be mesmerized by a thick layer of illuminated red mist that clung to it like a blanket. The cool moisture licked at his paws, invoking a shiver throughout his body.

Upon closer inspection of the ground however, Humphrey noticed something that made his heart sink and his mind reel. He could feel his anxiousness rising up in his chest, stomach bile threatening to overflow as he had not eaten in days. Perhaps he was hallucinating? Yes. That was the most logical assumption.

But yet, Humphrey could not deny his own eyes. Bandages, bound together by tree sap, and stained red by his own blood were wrapped tightly around his forepaws.

Of course, this alone isn't something that would normally spook Humphrey. However, It was the implications of this that unsettled him. It meant that the events of the last few days had all been real. Sure enough, he had been framed by Kate. He had been beaten badly, nearly to death by the Western Pack and then left for dead.

Still, that wasn't what was on the forefront of his mind. What really plagued Humphrey, however, was the simple fact that there was absolutely no way any wolf could have survived what he had been through. Even a fully trained Alpha. He should be dead by now. Perhaps by dehydration, perhaps by blood loss. Either way, it was irrelevant. What concerned him deeply was that, somehow... He was still alive. It was a statistical impossibility. What's more, he felt in even better shape than his usual self.

The den walls continued to flicker menacingly with their crimson rays, distracting him from his thoughts. He eyed them suspiciously for a few seconds, hoping for his uneasiness, that sickly feeling deep in his gut to go away.

"No way" Humphrey whispered to himself, slightly astounded.

Of course, part of him was simply thankful to be alive. Humphrey was never a wolf to take anything for granted. Despite this, Humphrey could not shake a bad vibe regarding the whole situation.

"Did Lilly do this?" He then uttered, the logical part of his brain searching for the most viable solution.

Speaking of Lilly, where could she even be?

Humphrey stood dumbstruck for a few seconds as the question stuck on his mind, seemingly processing his next move. He then rapidly shook his from head side to side, growling, berating his own actions.

"Snap out of it Humphrey." He scolded.

He realized that he had been stood there for a whole minute, stupidly looking at the hazy red light filtering through the den entrance. This is why he was a useless Omega, he got distracted far too easily. Sometimes he wondered if Kate was right. He could be in danger, and his task was to find out who that voice belonged to.

Furrowing his brow in determination, and without hesitation, Humphrey slowly crept towards the den entrance as if stalking his prey. The unidentified light source appeared to be getting brighter and brighter with each passing step. The opening couldn't have been more than forty feet away by this point, revealing a sharp, jagged outline seemingly cutting through the mist. The said outline appeared a deep jet black, in contrast to the almost glowing air.

Humphrey eyed the den entrance questioningly, somewhat surprised by its unfamiliar appearance. As the light intensity increased, revealing his surroundings in more detail, Humphrey couldn't help but speak his mind.

"This.. It's not my den."

The words slipped Humphrey's mouth before he had the chance to retract them, making him instantly regret his actions. Even though he was trying his best to be confident, hearing the discouragement in his own voice didn't help matters at all. He felt somewhat ill by this revelation, something that made his mouth sticky and dry.

Humphrey let out a long, shaky breath in attempts to compose himself. Despite this, using his logical mind, he knew that he was only delaying what was inevitable. It was the weak Omega in him, telling him that he didn't have what it takes.

Nervously, refocusing on the situation at paw, Humphrey cautiously stepped through the den entrance in efforts to satisfy his curiosity. Upon stepping outside however, Humphrey was initially taken aback. He was bathed in the same crimson light that he had seen from within the den, only this time however, he was stood directly below the source of it. It wasn't quite sunlight, but it was very similar to the orange glow of the sunset. Humphrey looked to the sky in awe, his eyes fixated on the said culprit.

Low and behold, the full moon stood in all its majesty. The moon was most certainly larger than normal and sat quite low in the sky, scattering it's light throughout the redwood trees that stood prominently in its way. What made the sight totally unique for Humphrey however was that the fact that the moon was a deep, blood red colour.

It was such a deep shade that most of the light was absorbed by the forest. So much, in fact, that the clearing in which he stood was a very deep burgundy colour, surrounded by the crisp black outline of the trees contrasting the vibrancy of the moon. Despite being so dark and dingy, the light managed to cling to the branches and damp ground like some kind of sinister omen.

Humphrey adjusted his eyes as he squinted, searching the clearing for any signs of life. When this was to no avail, he instinctively raised his nose to the air, sniffing feverishly for any scent that could be of any use to him.

"Hello. Pup." A composed, yet masculine voice came from the side of him.

Humphrey's head whipped around from side to side, haphazardly jumping around in efforts to ascertain the direction and source of the voice.

"Calm it down." The stern voice continued, emphasizing the words slowly and methodically. Humphrey immediately recognized the voice as the one that had just awoken him.

The mystery wolf, as if sensing his agitation, decided to unmask himself. He immediately took a step forward into a deep orange moonbeam, illuminating all his bodily features. Humphrey once again squinted his eyes, taking a few moments to focus on the wolf that stood in front of him. To say that he was shocked by what he saw was an understatement.

The wolf was obviously a well trained Alpha, as evidenced by lots of superficial scars that were randomly strewn across his body. Almost as if complementing this, he had a small number of serious scars too, such as deep claw marks that ran right across his torso. It was obvious that, such deep scarring indicated a conflict with a powerful beast such as a bear. Even though the wolf was fairly muscular, his build was quite lean. He wasn't quite as large as Garth, but certainly much more intimidating. Perhaps most disturbingly of all was his messy, tangled, deep brown coat that was matted in almost every direction and he smelled like he hadn't bathed in a week. This just added to the wolf's rugged and unkempt appearance. To top it off, the wolf wore a hardened expression, one that betrayed no emotions.

The wolf's turnout actually perplexed Humphrey as the wolf seemed to be a creature of contradictions. For example, he had the battle scars of an seasoned Alpha, but physically, not much stronger than your ordinary Beta. What's more, if the wolf was actually an Alpha, he should be taking care of himself, like keeping himself clean. This was a very strict part of basic training at Alpha School. Contrary to this however, it seemed that the wolf hadn't even seemed to master, or even care about the very basics of hygiene. Perhaps most perplexing of all for Humphrey, however, was the wolf's composure. Despite the wolf's thoroughly dirty appearance, he didn't show a single emotion and he spoke in a calm yet methodical tongue. These characteristics didn't resemble an Alpha or an Omega. As a matter of fact, they resembled something much more than this. These were qualities that great pack leaders held, such as Winston.

In Humphrey's opinion, it was the wolf's unpredictable nature that made him so greatly intimidating. It was knowing that the wolf could do anything, at any time, leaving him as defenseless as a newborn pup against him. That bad feeling, deep down in his gut had managed to show its ugly face once again.

Upon glancing at the cold, expressionless Alpha once more, his characteristics didn't remind Humphrey of any wolf, or even any creature that he knew of. It was just the most impossible combination. The wolf seemed lifeless, dead even, almost as if he had no soul. In a way, Humphrey mused, he was no different to a machine that the humans would make. It was almost like the wolf was built for a specific purpose, but devoid of all unnecessary personality.

As soon as such a horrible, harrowing thought had crossed his mind, he could feel his breathing become laboured and uneasy. As if on cue, his leg muscles tightened up, even his whole thought process seemed to jam in place. Humphrey couldn't have strung a sentence together if he had wanted to.

Sometimes Humphrey had no idea what possessed him to think in the way he did. He just tried to tell himself that he was being totally ridiculous. The wolf in front of him was probably responsible for his recovery!

Yet, despite this, all it took was one good look at the - dare he say it - horrific looking wolf that stood in front of him, then it was like all his concerns seemed justified. He couldn't put his paw on exactly as to why, but he could still not shake the bad vibe that something was not quite right with the wolf. It was something that kept him locked in his place, and as silent as a lamb.

"You alright kid? You look like you've seen a ghost." The wolf joked, cracking a small smile for the first time.

Humphrey stood dumbstruck for a few seconds, alarmed by the wolf's war-torn figure.

"Ugghhhh. Yeah... I guess. " Was all that Humphrey managed to say, lost for words under his intimidating posture.

The wolf paused for an instant before looking to the ground, letting out a deep sigh. The wolf then raised his head to look at Humphrey, appearing somewhat exasperated by his answer.

"Look pup, I don't bite. Not unless you make me anyway." The wolf retorted in a friendly tone, though not very convincingly.

"Erm. Yeah sorry. You startled me, thats all." Humphrey replied, letting out a shaky breath. It was the best sentence that he could come up with in such an agitated state.

Forthcoming and breaking the awkward silence, the mystery wolf stepped forwards, extending a paw.

"I'm Trevor." The wolf said, a somewhat disturbing grin threatening to form at the corners of his mouth.

This of course didn't go unnoticed by Humphrey, the alarm becoming increasingly apparent on his face.

Trevor obviously picked up on this and immediately averted his gaze, almost as if he had crossed some sort of line. He then slowly lowered his paw, looking down towards an insignificant wilting flower on the ground beneath him as a source of distraction.

Humphrey was somewhat creeped out by Trevor's behaviour, but didn't feel at immediate threat from the wolf. After all, if the wolf had wanted him dead, surely he would have done so already. Humphrey gained a little confidence from this revelation, but part of him still felt as though the wolf was putting on a facade.

By putting his rational mind aside, and by paying attention to his bad vibes, Humphrey had managed to survive his puppyhood years as an orphan. Yet, this time, his hunch seemed more overpowering than ever. Interacting with Trevor seemed like the most unnatural, repulsive thing he could possibly do. Either way though, Humphrey knew he couldn't test the wolf's patience. He had to play along.

"I'm Humphrey. Nice to meet you." He replied to Trevor with a weak smile, slowly raising his paw into the air.

To this, Trevor quickly regained his composure, firmly shaking Humphrey's paw with surprising grip. The wolf then smiled at him in an unusually enthusiastic manner, acting so friendly to the point of being disturbing.

Of course, usually Humphrey would have welcomed such friendliness. His actions, however, seemed insincere. He couldn't explain it, but it made him feel sick.

"Delighted to meet you!" Trevor then exclaimed, making Humphrey feel almost claustrophobic.

"Look, I've got some.." Humphrey was cut off.

"Questions!?" Trevor blurted out, finishing Humphrey's sentence.

"Yeah..." Humphrey replied and nodded, now convinced that the wolf in front of him was completely crazy.

"Don't worry young un'... All will be answered. But first of all, you're coming with me!" Trevor replied in a charismatic tone.

"Where are we going?" Humphrey piped up curiously, somewhat lead into a false sense of security by the wolf's upbeat demeanour.

"TO SEE THE PACK LEADER! SHUT UP YOUR QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED!" Trevor screeched at the top of his lungs.

His voice bellowed throughout the whole meadow, shocking Humphrey into silence - so much so that his hairs stood on end. All he could do was nod at Trevor with newfound respect, meek and timid as a mouse after his intense display of power. Trevor looked at him for a few seconds in an angry fashion, then simply cocked his head back towards himself. Humphrey, of course, took this as a gesture to follow him. Humphrey reluctantly took a deep breath, looking around the small meadow in which he stood. He took good note of the picturesque scenery surrounding him, taking in its simplistic beauty. He had a sinking feeling that this would be the last time he saw it.

Trevor set off, leading Humphrey through the tall meadow grass in total silence. Humphrey eyed the mad wolf suspiciously from behind, wondering what strange thoughts could be running through his mind at that moment. One thing was for certain however, Humphrey made sure to leave a large gap between them. He had been on the receiving end of too much violence recently, so he was taking extra precautions to make sure it didn't happen again.

Ordinarily, if it wasn't submerged by the most unsettling moonlight, Humphrey would have found the meadow to be the perfect recreational spot. After all, It had all the features that an Omega could want. First of all, the clearing itself was beautiful, not to mention being almost perfectly encapsulated by redwood trees. Such long grass would be perfect for games like 'Hunter and Hunted'. Humphrey sighed at the thought of the fun and games he had with his Omega friends. Part of him had doubts that he would ever get the opportunity to see them again, especially after being evicted from the pack. Even if he was granted such an opportunity, there's no telling how they would react anyway. All his friends struck him as pretty gullible, so it would go without saying that they would probably believe Eve and Kate's lies.

Humphrey internally sighed to himself in distaste. What he really should have been focusing on was his current location and Lilly's whereabouts. After all, that is what really mattered at the moment.

Of course, deep down, Humphrey really cared for his friend. In fact, come to think of it, sometimes he didn't quite appreciate how close they actually were. In Humphrey's eyes, Lilly would always be his responsibility. God forbid, if anything was to happen to the beautiful snow white wolf. She was almost like a sister to him, they could divulge secrets to each other that they couldn't even speak about with their closest friends.

_'NO!'_

Humphrey internally berated himself. He shouldn't be thinking like that.

Of course, part of Humphrey simply knew that Lilly was alright. He had faith. After all, she was the purest, most innocent wolf that he had ever met. There was absolutely no way that anything could happen to a wolf like her right? Besides, she had, dare he say, the cutest face he had ever seen?

Humphrey allowed a steady, uncontrolled blush to rise to his cheeks at such a thought. He knew he shouldn't be thinking about his friend like that either, but he just couldn't help it. It was a totally automatic reaction that seemed to take over his body every time he thought about her. He just couldn't explain it.

Her eyes were the most majestic, entrancing lilac colour that he had ever seen. It was enough to make any males heart melt. It was amazing to think that she was the pack leaders daughter, but yet unlike Kate, she was one of the nicest, most genuine wolves that he had ever met. She must have a lot of male attention, Humphrey thought.

A slight pang of anger and jealousy immediately flooded throughout Humphrey. The thought of another male courting her made him want to growl.

He huffed loudly in frustration.

_'Calm down Humphrey, you're just friends.' _Humphrey tried to tell himself, yet unconvincingly.

Suddenly, once again, the reality of the situation hit him like a brick. He didn't know where Lilly was, she may even be dead! He had to find her!

Of course, he found it increasingly difficult not to voice his concerns with Trevor. In retrospect, he knew that opening his mouth with another question would probably do more him harm than good. He may not be an Alpha, but he most certainly was not stupid. Humphrey bit his tongue in efforts to stay quiet, scrunching his claws into the ground in frustration as he walked. He was never a wolf to like suspense, but this type of suspense, he feared, could easily tear him apart.

Trevor escorted Humphrey to the edge of the clearing, eventually setting paw underneath the dense forrest canopy. The redwood trees grew thick and tall, the absence of light preventing anything smaller from growing underneath. The same eerie fog that was present on the den floor was most certainly more abundant here, seemingly creeping meters up the meaty tree trunks. What appeared to be small stream, if you could even call it that, gently trickled between the roots of the trees on the forrest floor, an obvious sign of drainage from the slightly elevated meadow. A shimmering ray of crimson moonlight pierced the canopy, the beam clearly visible through the low lying fog. The beam of light then hit the crystal clear water of the stream, making it glisten in the most fantastic deep orange shade.

Humphrey took a moment, somewhat astounded by its breathtaking appearance. He then eyed the sparkling water greedily before lowering his head to the ground, inquisitively lapping up some of the refreshingly cool water through his laboured breathing. As soon as Trevor noticed this, he stopped walking and growled to himself in frustration. That stupid grey wolf was no longer following him. Trevor then slowly turned his head, followed by the rest of his body, to face Humphrey. The wolf was blissfully unaware of his piercing gaze.

"KEEP UP!" Trevor barked in a ferocious tone, swiftly gaining Humphrey's attention.

Trevor paused for a moment, before continuing.

"Wouldn't want to be late for the big boss now, would we?" Trevor spoke in an aggressive and condescending tone, causing Humphrey to rapidly shake his head in agreement.

"Good." Trevor replied smugly, grinning to himself for a moment.

"Get in front!" Trevor then immediately growled, his usual menacing personality prevailing through his sarcasm.

Humphrey clearly identified this an order and was not about to challenge Trevor's wishes. Somewhat aloof, he slowly began walking in front of the mad wolf, under no false illusions that he was under Trevor's deepest scrutiny.

Humphrey knew one thing for sure. This wolf was most certainly crazy, and he didn't like this at all. It made him want to turn around and run away as fast as his legs could carry him. Unfortunately for Humphrey however, such an opportunity had been and gone. His curiosity had taken the better of him, telling him to follow the voice. Now he was reaping the consequences of his actions.

The rest of the journey was even more uncomfortable than the first half, if that was even possible. Humphrey could feel the perspiration accumulating in his clumped, soggy fur, then dripping to the ground underneath him. He didn't know if the most intense thing was being under Trevor's prying eyes, or the arduous route that the mad wolf had chosen for them to get to this so called 'pack'.

After about a mile of walking, the redwood trees seemed to be growing thicker and taller than ever. Any previous hints of moonlight had faded from the forest floor, replacing it with a thick, unfaltering blackness. As he focused his wolverine pupils, fully dilating them like saucers, he could only confirm such suspicions. Humphrey cautiously slowed his walking pace right down, having to rely on other senses in order to get him to his destination. Of course, as a wolf, his sense of smell should have been the ideal navigating tool in this situation. However, despite this, smell is only ever useful if you recognize the scent that you're actually supposed to be following. Humphrey of course had acquired no such scent.

Perhaps if he were an Alpha, Humphrey may have actually been able to find his way through the treacherous forest. Contrary to this however, with Humphrey's untrained Omega skills, it compelled him to come to a complete stop. He couldn't see a single inch in front of him, never mind as to where he was supposed to be putting his paws. What's more, he didn't even know what direction he was supposed to be going in. If he wasn't careful, he could walk straight into a tree and open up his wounds again. That was most certainly the last thing he wanted in such a situation.

Humphrey waited for a few moments, unsure of how to proceed. As Humphrey was deep in thought, he had failed to realize just how much ground Trevor had gained upon him. Unaware of Humphrey's situation, Trevor closed in, stealthy and sleek as a ninja underneath the thick forest canopy. Trevor immediately came to a stop, mere inches behind Humphrey's ears. He wasn't a stupid wolf and he wouldn't be made a fool of. With a simple whiff of the air just in front of him, he could sense the overwhelming scent of the grey wolf all around him. This only meant one thing. Humphrey had stopped moving again. Trevor let out a low, deep growl from the bottom of his lungs, startling Humphrey into a frantic jump.

"HEEELLP!" Humphrey yelped, his head darting side to side in efforts to see through the darkness.

Trevor sighed aloud, immediately identifying his mistake. He was stupid to think that such a pathetic, weak excuse of a wolf could keep his composure.

"Keep it quiet, pup!" Trevor hissed to Humphrey through gritted teeth.

Humphrey waited for a few moments, taking in a few deep breaths in efforts to calm himself down. He looked around hopelessly in the dark, desperate for any faint glimmer that would give him a reference point. It would have at least provided him with a bit of comfort that he craved in such a traumatizing situation.

Despite this, he could not see a single thing. Of course, he knew Trevor was standing at a hairs distance behind him, which was the most harrowing thing about it. It left him in a totally vulnerable position and totally open to attack.

"I've no idea where we're supposed to be going." Humphrey retorted in frustrated tone, huffing his breath.

"Use your ears and focus, just follow the sounds of the river." Trevor replied in a calmer manner, then pausing for a moment.

"When you reach the bank of the larger river, wait for further instructions." He continued, waiting for a verbal confirmation from Humphrey.

"Alright." Humphrey said meekly through the dark, thankful that he had caught Trevor in one of his better moods.

"I thought you first class Alpha's could navigate anyway, It's ridiculous..." Trevor piped up in aggravation, speaking his mind.

"What..?" Humphrey said questioningly, more than a little shocked about his comment.

Trevor thought that he was an Alpha?

Obviously, Humphrey found this very perplexing. Of course, granted, he was by no degree unhealthy, but he most certainly looked nothing like an Alpha. He would even argue that he looked emaciated in comparison to the other Alpha's he knew in the Western Pack. Even the smaller built Alpha's, even the females were significantly bulkier than him. Perhaps, Humphrey mused, the Alpha's of Trevor's pack were of skinnier build?

Despite it not being addressed as a question, he was under the impression that Trevor wanted some form of answer. He knew that identifying himself as an Omega was probably the worst thing he could have done in such a situation, portraying his vulnerability to the crazy wolf.

Humphrey knew that he had to play along, but found himself being put on the spot. He really didn't know what to say, or how to explain his 'Omega' like actions to Trevor. He knew that Trevor would smell a lie from a mile away.

He had to think, and he had to think fast...

"Erm... Yeah sorry, I haven't finished my training yet." Humphrey managed, struggling for words under his scrutiny.

"I've only learnt the basics of hunting, but navigating should be in the next unit." Humphrey lied with a little more confidence , hoping it would give a bit of credibility to his story.

Trevor listened to Humphrey, somewhat skeptical about his answer. He waited for a few moments in the dark, raising his brows to himself in suspicions.

"You know.." Trevor said, pausing for a second.

"If it wasn't for those nasty scars kiddo, I would have said you were an Omega." Trevor spoke carefully, almost digging for an answer, steering the conversation into a place that Humphrey didn't want it to go.

Humphrey knew that he wasn't being convincing enough. He had to prove that he was an Alpha!

Humphrey growled into the dark, the vibrations in his throat feeling very unfamiliar to him. The low pitched growl was that of a seasoned Alpha, somewhat taking Trevor by surprise. Before Trevor could react to the growl, he was immediately cut off.

"FUCK YOU!" Humphrey spat in Trevor's face with a hiss.

"I destroyed a pack of bears in the name of my pack. So don't you ever call me an Omega!"

Trevor recoiled, taken aback by Humphrey's raw display of power. After recovering from the initial shock, he could feel the anger rising deep within him, yet at the same time he felt somewhat proud by Humphrey's actions. This was the response that he had been looking for. He was now more satisfied about the grey wolf's true identity, and he was the type of wolf they needed. Trevor laughed to himself in the dark, his sinister voice echoing throughout the night. Humphrey's hairs stood on end to such a penetrating laugh, but utterly confused by Trevor's reaction. His heart was beating, nearly out of his chest as he expected his death was to be imminent. Humphrey screwed his eyes shut, fully anticipating the unstable wolf to unleash his final deadly beating.

"Goooooooooooood." Trevor chimed up sarcastically, the intimidating nature of his voice threatening to burst out.

"Cause.." Trevor paused for a few seconds.

"y'know what happens to the Omega's that I come across right?" He continued in an aggressive tone.

"What?" Humphrey replied in horror, too much adrenaline in his system to even think.

"THEY DIE!" Trevor screeched in uncontrollable glee, letting out a shrill laugh deep into the night.

Humphrey immediately felt all his extremities grow numb, the colour appearing to drain from his face behind his pale grey fur. The revelation had hit him like a brick. For a short while, it felt as though time had stopped completely. It was just like a bad dream.

"What..?" Humphrey managed.

"Yeah!" Trevor exclaimed enthusiastically.

"There's no room for dead weight Omega's in our pack, or any of those pussy Alpha's. We need machines." He continued, invoking a shudder throughout Humphrey's body.

"Besides, Omega's taste good!" Trevor quietly whispered to himself, laughing, licking his lips almost as if in anticipation.

This of course didn't go unheard by Humphrey, stunning him into a total silence. The more Humphrey learned about the wolf, the less he wanted to know.

Humphrey stood, completely paralyzed and breath-taken by Trevor's revelation. There came a point where he realized that he hadn't taken a breath in about twenty seconds, causing him to take a series of large, greedy gulps of air. As he came back in touch with reality, Humphrey stared into the darkness in shock and horror. He really hoped Trevor's comment was some kind of sick joke, such was to be expected from such a sarcastic, mentally disturbed wolf.

"Right! Let's get moving!" Trevor said spontaneously, breaking the silence.

Becoming more accustomed to Trevor's ways, Humphrey didn't say anything to this. All he could do was nod his head to himself in confirmation, slowly beginning the treacherous journey into the darkness. Despite being more than a little unsettled by the whole situation, Humphrey decided against questioning Trevor. With such a wolf, he found it much easier bottling up his emotions, and getting on with the task at hand. He realized that following his instructions would be the only way of getting out of this ordeal, so it was imperative that he kept his ears focused on the stream beside him at all times.

With Humphrey being an Omega, such an experience had been completely foreign to him. He found it fascinating how his sensitive hearing was, especially in the absence of light which he had been so usually reliant on. He realized that he could hear every crunch, every precise twig that snapped underneath his clumsy paws. It was almost as if he had gained a sixth sense, allowing him to hear everything distinctly and with the greatest attention to detail.

Despite his huge lack of experience however, he found his surroundings quite strange. Aside from the gentle trickle of the stream to the right of him, and Trevor's perfectly executed paw steps behind him, the forest around him was deathly silent. It was almost as if the thick fog that clung in the air had snuffed the very character out of the place. The forest seemed completely dead, even to the point where it was devoid of all life essence and soul.

In his whole limited Omega lifespan, only once had he been in a forest as quiet as this one. Humphrey wasn't a stupid wolf, and he knew exactly what it meant. An apex predator must have been on the loose, at least something near the top of the food chain. Ironically enough, what made it further perplexing for Humphrey was that, not only had all the birds had stopped chirping, but even the crickets and insects had stopped rattling.

It left the forest in, what Humphrey could only describe as true silence. For those who have never experienced it, it's a truly horrifying realization. It's no longer the familiar territory that you know and love so well, but the domain of your rampant imagination and your deepest fears, usually kept locked away behind your minds eye. It only makes the situation worse when you don't know the said area, and you can't see an inch in front of you.

Humphrey knew one thing was for certain. This was no bear. He felt tears threaten to escape his eyes, trying his best not to run through the trees that were smothering him. It was so quiet that he could even hear the constant thump of his own heartbeat above anything else. It didn't take an Alpha to know that this was a bad sign.

Humphrey tried his best to relax and think rationally. Somewhat hesitantly, he slowed his walking pace down again and raised his nose into the air, trying his best to acquire any possible scent that could be a threat to him.

As it turned out, the only thing he could pick up on was the familiar musk of the redwood trees, seemingly overpowering anything else. He couldn't detect a single animal, not even a rabbit. Perhaps the most disturbing thing of all was that he couldn't even acquire Trevor's scent.

This was indeed a worrying revelation, but he had to make an effort to stay calm. Panicking wouldn't solve anything, especially for a clumsy wolf like Humphrey. Besides, what could he expect in a such a completely still, completely lifeless place with absolutely no wind?

What's more, he was an untrained Omega. Putting aside his tracking skills, he should be proud of himself for even getting so far, especially over the events of the past few days.

Humphrey tried his best to shake off the unsettling feeling deep within him, and proceed with the journey ahead. Though he would never admit it, he was somewhat comforted by the faint pattering of Trevor's paw steps behind him.

It made him feel secure in such a desolate, lifeless place. It meant that at the very least, he wasn't completely alone. If a bear was to leap out and attack him from the silent, black, stygian abyss, he had absolutely no doubts that he was in safe paws.

Yet at the same time, he was disgusted by such a thought.

Trevor gave Humphrey the creeps, even to the point of making him feel physically sick. Humphrey couldn't put his paw on it, but it made Kate and her disgusting actions seem almost angel-like by comparison. It was more than just a bad vibe to him. He almost felt like he was selling his soul just by talking to the wolf.

Humphrey must have been walking for around ten minutes, or so it seemed. It was difficult to tell as he had nothing in particular to focus on, aside from the mundane route that Trevor had chosen. As un-stimulating as his journey had been, Humphrey was adamant that his mind had started playing tricks on him.

It had started with the odd crack to side of him, an easily discernible sound in the silence of the night. Humphrey would stop in his tracks to this, the pounding of his heart becoming an ever loud thud in his ears as he let his thoughts go silent for a moment. Humphrey would wait in the darkness for a minute, screwing his eyes shut and holding his breath in a bid not to be heard by whatever may be lurking out there.

Of course, despite his anxieties, and despite all his nervous anticipation, no horrifying creature appeared before him, no terrible beast was waiting for him in the shadows, ready to pounce and take his life. Humphrey would then let out a nervous breath, somewhat hesitantly letting his guard down. He would slowly turn his head, gingerly, then force himself to continue on the seemingly insurmountable journey ahead of him.

If anything, it was the suspense caused by this that really killed him. It was the uncertainty that the forest provided, a true nexus of despair. Humphrey tried to tell himself that it was all in his imagination, after all, that was what happened when the brain was deprived of stimulation right?

Even so. Here's the thing about a bad vibe. There's always that element to someone's personality, that no matter how logical thinking they are, and no matter how much they try, they cannot fully convince themselves that they are safe and in control. That element of doubt will always be there at the back of their minds, waiting to seep in at the opportune moment. When it gets in, it slowly eats away at their self confidence like a parasite, leaving them nothing more than a nervous wreck.

Humphrey knew that this was happening to him. Only to be accelerated by the unforgiving, thick black and deathly silent environment surrounding him.

Anyway, that was how it all started. As he progressed through the forest, he seemed to get even more disorientated, if such a thing was possible. He was so far removed from reality that, he didn't know if he had been walking for ten minutes, or an hour by this point.

Now, as it seemed, his imagination had taken things to the next level. Humphrey plodded on arduously, the huffing of his breath becoming ever evident to anything within a twenty meter radius of him. He was being pushed to his very brink physically, the Omega not being used to this scale of exercise. Humphrey looked towards the ground, sweat beading and running off the bridge of his nose, dripping into the blackness beneath him.

Perhaps, Humphrey mused, it was just the fatigue taking hold of him. However, Humphrey was sure that, as he walked, his eyes down towards the ground, he could see a faint white sparkle out of the corners of his eyes, glistening, almost beckoning him. Humphrey whipped his eyes up in the direction of the sparkle, only to find that it had vanished like a mirage into thin air.

Humphrey stared into the darkness through his sticky eyes, trying to find the said light source. Humphrey let out an exhausted, exasperated sigh. It was no use. He couldn't focus on anything in such an obliterated state.

Humphrey came to a complete stop, his forepaws buckling, then gently followed by his face into the soft ground beneath him. He huffed lazily in exhaustion for a few seconds, the sharp pine needles prickling his nose.

He shut his eyes peacefully and tried to let his mind go blank, trying his best to unwind for a moment. It was a well needed break, not to mention well overdue one. Humphrey could feel and taste the salty sweat pooling in the dirt beneath him, the survivor in him telling him to drink the nasty concoction in efforts to quench his overwhelming thirst. Humphrey sighed lethargically, the lazy thump of his tail hitting against the forest floor. He knew that if he collapsed his hind legs too, he most certainly wouldn't have the ability to get back up again. He dreaded to think what kind of trouble he would be in if he were caught out three times in a row.

Humphrey growled to himself in frustration. Reality truly sucked. He knew that he had to get up while he still could.

Humphrey immediately rose to his paws, panting aloud as he did so. He grimaced in regret, knowing full well that he only felt worse than he did before he decided on the short break. His legs threatened to collapse from under him, all his lower body strength now completely depleted. Once again, Humphrey tried to ascertain his whereabouts, focusing his hearing into the night.

Humphrey waited patiently, expectantly, for any familiar sound that could be of use to him.

Silence.

Humphrey brushed this off. What could he expect? He was obviously worn out and tired. He contorted his face in effort, trying even harder to refocus on the stream which should have been to the side of him.

Still silence.

Humphrey must have been waiting for thirty seconds now, but to no avail. He couldn't hear a single thing. He had been concentrating so hard, studying the silence to such a degree that he was rewarded with a high pitched ringing in his ears. Humphrey rubbed the sides of his head with his forepaws in frustration, hoping for the constant drone deep in his mind to go away. He was starting to get a little worried by this point, the thick black forest seemingly closing in around him, engulfing his soul.

"Trevor..?" Humphrey said meekly into the darkness, somewhat apprehensive of the reply.

Humphrey waited patiently for an answer once again, his agitated breathing being his only companion. The segregation that the forest offered was only draining him further, to the point where staying mentally strong was also physically exhausting. Humphrey, now familiar with the feeling, could feel the anxiety rising in his chest once more.

"Trevor!" He shouted out again after a few seconds, panicking, pleading for somebody to answer him.

Despite this, the deathly silent forest only managed to speak fear into his core. The ringing in his ears only persisting, confirming his worst fears.

He was all alone.

Humphrey started walking with a brisk pace, aiming for where he thought the stream should be. Humphrey growled loudly as he walked, angry at himself for letting fear overcome him. If it wasn't for his sloppy actions in the first place, he wouldn't even be in this mess. He walked, for as it seemed, twenty meters.

He came to a stop, tears threatening to escape his eyes as the reality of the situation hit home.

He stomped over what should have been the spring angrily, unable to contain his shock. He had at the very least expected to hear splashing underneath his paws. He had initially brushed it off as his own fatigue, his own senses failing him.

Humphrey knew what had really happened though. The stream that he had been following must have dried up. That or he had strayed off course. In reality though, it didn't really matter. What really mattered now was that he was lost, and completely alone.

Knowing that Trevor wasn't around to mock him anymore, Humphrey no longer had the power to control his emotions. He just couldn't help it. He needed to let it all out.

The stress and despair that had accumulated over the past few days had finally boiled over, flipping the Omega over the edge. Humphrey finally choked a small sob, the tears he had been suppressing for so long running down his face and dripping off his nose. He whimpered to himself as his tears ran more freely, inches from breaking him down into total hysteria. He was surprised that he had any more tears left to cry, given his circumstances. For all intents and purposes, the environment which he was in made him truly naked. No light, no sound, and pretty much a scentless place. Humphrey was only left with himself, his thoughts and his inner demons, and for most, that is not pleasant company.

Humphrey closed his eyes, forcing himself to take in a long, deep breath. Humphrey held this breath for a few seconds, then soothingly exhaled it through his nostrils. He was doing his best to compose himself, to make the best of the situation and to think like an Alpha.

Humphrey continued his breathing exercise for a minute, calming him until he was in an almost meditative state. Somewhat more relaxed, Humphrey let out a final, long, shaky breath. He opened his eyes, looking around at the unfaltering black sheet that engulfed him.

He knew that he had an almost insurmountable task ahead of him, but he needed to find the crazy wolf if he didn't want to be picked off by a bear in the hellish, nightmarish landscape surrounding him.

"TREVOR!" Humphrey bellowed at the top of his Omega lungs, the thick tree trunks unfortunately smothering his voice.

He waited anxiously for a minute, giving it one final attempt at locating the wolf before moving on. Humphrey let out a nervous sigh when silence greeted him once more, leaving him with only one inevitable option. He started putting one paw in front of the other, walking in no particular direction. He knew he had to make his path as straight as possible if he wanted any chance of getting out of the trap he was in.

Despite this, that is something easier said than done. With no water trickling to the side of him to guide him, Humphrey kept wavering from side to side, periodically walking in tree trunks, stunning him and nearly knocking him off his feet.

"Shit!" Humphrey cursed on one occasion, his hind leg brushing up and getting caught on a redwood trunk.

Humphrey struggled in the darkness to get unfastened from the tree, but only managing to unpeel the bandage that had been so tightly wrapped around his appendage.

"Fuck you Kate." He mumbled in frustration, almost as if she had cursed him.

Picturing her face in his mind just made him want to boil over in anger. She was the most cunning, evil, lying Alpha. It was just a shame that such a disgusting wolf was the top Alpha in the pack.

_'Wait a minute!' _Humphrey thought to himself.

_'What would Kate do?' _He continued, pressing himself for answers.

Humphrey eyed the invisible ground in query for a few moments, trying his best to rack his brain regarding the she-wolfs antics.

_'What would she do..?' _ He further pressed.

_'She would think outside the box right?'_

Humphrey stood deep in thought for a few moments, before looking up in realization. His eyes widened to such a revelation, a seemingly flawless plan coming together in his mind.

If Humphrey was a betting wolf, he would say that the spring had simply dried up rather than him losing track of it. That was the most logical explanation. After all, the summer heat had been almost unbearable recently right?

The ground on which he stood was thick with pine needles. So in order to find his way back to the spring, he had to follow the ground until it became debris free. The ground would be smooth, compacted dirt perhaps - the stereotypical riverbed.

He would then have to follow the smooth ground until it met with a larger river. At least, those were Trevor's instructions right? Humphrey sighed to himself, unsure of anything anymore. Either way though, he didn't have any better ideas.

Humphrey started walking again, but this time, not in a straight line. He intentionally arched his path to the left, so in theory, he would be able to walk in a large circle. This of course wasn't his intention though. He knew that doing this would be his best bet at finding the riverbed.

As Humphrey walked, he could distinctly feel the springy, padded nature of the pine needles beneath him. He purposely ground his paws into the earth, constantly testing the nature of the soil for any possible changes. Roughly three minutes later, Humphrey, sure that it was not his imagination, was absolutely adamant that the ground was beginning to thin. It had started with the odd clear patch, but it became much more obvious as he progressed.

"Oww!" Humphrey whispered, yanking his paw up in emphasis.

The ground that he was now treading seemed to be strewn with rounded pebbles, sunken at irregular intervals in the smooth, but muddy riverbed. They were obviously eroded and deposited over hundreds, if not thousands of years from further upstream. They were nothing but a nuisance in the dark, proving painful when he inadvertently stepped on them.

It became apparent that this far downstream, the riverbed was significantly wider than it had previously been. This would at least explain why it had dried up, Humphrey mused.

Humphrey continued along the riverbed for about half a mile, the ground getting progressively damper and cooler underneath his paws. He occasionally stepped in the odd muddy puddle, the stagnant water splashing up and clumping in his fur. The further that Humphrey travelled downstream, the ground seemed be getting more and more hydrated, eventually converting it into a muddy bog.

Humphrey transversed the sticky, toffee like substance at a snail's pace, wanting nothing more than to leave the forest of his nightmares behind him. Despite this, the bog was very viscous, its characteristics more resembling that of quicksand rather than mud. Each step seemed to zap away any remaining energy that he had left, his paws squelching and spraying mud all over him when he finally managed to break free of its hold.

The thick, sticky mud eventually began to thin, the ground becoming much more stable under paw. It was a much welcomed feeling for Humphrey's weary mud caked body. A slight trickle re-emerged from the now sandy riverbed, a clear sign that the spring must run underground during the drier months.

Humphrey could feel the frigid spring waters biting into his paws, ice cold, but yet it a comforting revelation on many levels. Not only did it mean that he was nearly out of the forest, but it also allowed him to be an opportunist.

Humphrey lowered his head down to the spring waters beneath him, greedily lapping it up almost as if it would disappear before his very eyes. He took one final, deep gulp of water before wiping his mouth with his forepaw.

He slowly raised his head back into the air in a dazed manner, relieved to have quenched his thirst. The Omega panted for a couple of minutes, trying his best to catch his breath after such strenuous activity. Humphrey then grimaced in the dark, immediately regretting stopping. He could feel the lactic acid building up in his legs.

This meant that, if his journey had been uncomfortable so far, the rest of his journey would be nothing short of pain.

Despite this, he knew he had to be close to the river by now. He just knew it, he could sense it in his paws.

Humphrey whimpered.

He was somewhat hesitant, but he knew what he had to do.

Knowing that putting it off any longer would only discourage him further, he gingerly started moving again, putting one paw in front of another. Humphrey limped, for as it seemed, the longest two hundred meters of his life. Each step had seemed like a mile, the raw pain causing him to flinch every time his paws hit the ground.

However, If his travels had taught him anything so far, he knew he needed this perseverance in order to emerge victorious.

As if on cue, Humphrey's ears flickered.

Humphrey tried his best to hone his hearing, a hazy rushing sound coming from the distance ahead of him. The sound alone was enough to peak Humphrey's interest, especially after being denied any form of stimulation for so long. Upon further analysis, the said rushing sound seemed to evolve, a familiar roar finally greeting his ears. This definitely wasn't his imagination playing tricks on him anymore.

Humphrey's face seemed to light up all of a sudden, his ears perking up In interest.

He was unable to shake the giddy trot that took over his body; It was well needed burst of energy, a completely automatic reaction, courtesy of his newfound hope. Humphrey happily picked up the pace, ignoring the pain in his legs and jogging on enthusiastically in the direction of the sound.

Even though the gushing sound was very familiar to him, he couldn't quite place it in his mind. The sound may have refreshed his demeanor, but he didn't know why. It was bizarre. He couldn't explain as to why he was giddily running towards it, clumsily, almost in a drunken stupor.

Then it dawned on him.

It must have been the river!

Humphrey ran through the thick, pitch black canopy in a rushed pace, the branches eventually beginning to thin above his head. Humphrey only continued running, completely ignorant to this.

He was way too focused on escaping, defiant as an Alpha. As he stubbornly chased the sounds of the river ahead of him, he flinched for an instant, taken off guard by the sudden turn of events.

Humphrey was initially dazzled, a thick beam of crimson moonlight piercing the stygian wasteland directly ahead of him. He was taken aback by its rich, energetic nature for a few moments, a total sensory overload. Part of him had seemed to forget that light could even exist in such a desolate place.

It was a welcomed sight that made Humphrey smile, something that made him feel like a normal wolf again. The thick, encompassing blanket provided by the darkness had only made him appreciate his simple senses more, the moonbeam seeming ever so bright and vibrant to him.

Despite this, Humphrey didn't stop to gawk. It only further encouraged him, running on in the direction of the sound, out of the darkness and slowly into the light. So he hoped, he was running in the direction of the real world that he knew and loved so well.

Humphrey began to slow his running pace down, eventually came to a clearing in the forest. It appeared that the small stream that he had been following finally joined with a raging torrent of water, perhaps even the one that Trevor spoke of. The river ran thick and fast, white rapid water jetting upwards over a boulder that had obviously been washed downstream over millions of years.

As Humphrey stepped out from the protection of the canopy, the moon shone menacingly from above like a demon, almost as if it was taunting him. Humphrey stopped dead in his tracks at the river bank, his silver - grey coat reflecting It's deathly rays. He looked to the rushing waters in skepticism, knowing that there was no way that any creature could venture through such fast and deep water without drowning.

"WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN!?" A voice bellowed from a few meters behind Humphrey.

The shrill, aggressive voice shocked Humphrey, his body tensing up as his paws dug into the sandy river bank beneath him. Humphrey did not turn around however, his fears knowing no bounds. Such was to be expected after the ordeal he had just endured. Unfortunately for Humphrey however, his fate had offered him no respite.

As if on cue, Humphrey immediately felt a sharp stabbing pain pierce through his ear. He initially winced to this, contorting his face at the stinging sensation, but everything happened too fast for him. The said assailant, who was obviously biting into his ear, then roughly tackled him to the ground with tremendous force.

Humphrey hit the ground with a thud, the pain reverberating in his bones being almost unbearable. All of the air seemed to deflate from his lungs on impact, its burning sensation perfectly accompanying the pain that the rest of his body was in. He tried gasping for air, but it was to no use. As it seemed, his lungs were no longer functioning.

The wolf then ground his teeth into Humphrey's ear tenaciously, tearing it up with his razor sharp fangs. Humphrey wailed into the night in agony, the burning, tearing sensation proving all too much for him.

"HUMPHREY MAN!" The wolf piped up crazily.

"You taste so good!" He continued.

Humphrey struggled against the wolfs firms bite, growling and clawing at his assailant in agony.

"SHUT UP!" The wolf finally growled in annoyance, before kicking sand into his eyes and face.

Humphrey recoiled, blinking his eyes, before collapsing to the ground in a fetal position. He clutched his head in agony, gasping out for air in a moment of total desperation. Humphrey whimpered, once again curling up in the sand. He had no tears left to cry.

"Don't fight like a pussy. It's disrespectful to your species." The wolf said sarcastically.

The wolf paused for a few seconds, seemingly collecting his thoughts.

"You've been gone half a-fucking hour!" The wolf then shouted, his voice seeming ever so familiar.

"You pathetic piece of shit!" He then said, kicking Humphrey's stomach in emphasis.

The wolf once again winded Humphrey, the absence of oxygen making him feel light headed and dizzy. Even the pain seemed to be numbing at this point, the wolf's voice seeming to be getting even more distant in his dream-like state.

The wolf then sighed to himself, seemingly contemplating his actions. It was almost as if he had a conscience. He patiently waited for a couple of minutes for Humphrey to collect himself, staring at the silver-grey wolf with exasperation.

Humphrey then slowly and shakily rose to his paws, his pain, the fear, the lack of energy making him tremble, obviously taking a huge toll on his body.

Humphrey looked to his attacker, at the scarred, messy, and crazed brown wolf stood in front of him. Needless to say, Humphrey was unsurprised by what he saw.

"HEY KIDDO!" Trevor said enthusiastically and with a smile.

Humphrey sighed dizzily, feeling agitated and sick again.

"Not you again." Humphrey said to himself somewhat jokingly, equally exasperated as the wolf stood in front of him.

"Yup me again!" Trevor said in his upbeat demeanor.

"Planning to lose me or something!?" Trevor questioned.

Humphrey stuttered for a few seconds, but he didn't get the chance to answer.

"Youuuuuuu shhiiit." Trevor exclaimed in a sarcastic tone.

Of course, Humphrey didn't know what else to do, but cautiously eyeball the messy brown wolf stood in front of him. After a few seconds, Trevor then sighed, closing his eyes in contemplation for a few moments. Humphrey waited patiently for a few minutes as he observed Trevor, waiting for the unstable wolf to make a move, or drop one of his crazy one liners.

This seemed to be to no avail however, and it was as the wolf appeared to almost be in some form of meditation. The silence was killing him, and even Humphrey's fatigued body was beginning to get fidgety.

However, at long last, Trevor's eyes slowly focused on the river besides them. He looked almost inquisitive as he did so, almost as if he was about to say something of great importance.

_End of part 1..._


End file.
